


Posterboy

by PinkRambo



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Break Downs, Canon-Typical Violence, Caring Commander Gabriel, Explicit Language, Gen, Graphic Description, Psychevals, Sociopath Jack Morrison, Violence, implied sexual misconduct
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:41:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8184217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkRambo/pseuds/PinkRambo
Summary: “We used to be friends. The best of friends. But then you met Posterboy...” History is written by the Victors...or those prepared for what’s coming. There was more going on than anyone knew...And it all went to hell in a handbasket with few noticing.





	1. Evaluations

**Author's Note:**

> This is a multichaptered fic, contains OCs and a lot of anguish.
> 
> This fic is based off of Tophatless's headcanon about why Jack was made Strike Commander over Gabriel. (http://tophatlass.tumblr.com/post/149096179725/and-again-the-difference-in-76s-and-reapers)

_ “All Soldiers must submit themselves for evaluation to determine appropriate assignments for the Overwatch Initiative.” _ Jack read out from his seat in the recreation hall with Gabriel and a few other operatives. “What a crock of shit.” He grouched throwing his feet up on the coffee table.

“Actually Jackie it’s not a bad idea. It would help make sure that there aren’t any lasting issues from the Omnic Crisis.” Gabriel’s deep voice reverberated among the room.

“Ugh, don’t call me Jackie. Come on.” Jack slouched further into the couch and groaned.

Gabriel didn’t even have to open his mouth again, merely taking a pull of his beer before Jack huffed again. “Fine! I’ll go to this tomorrow. For now, we’re celebrating!” He grinned, holding his own beer up to Gabriel in salute. 

The next morning dawned bright and soft. Running laps, Jack’s mind wondered how much he would have to answer for this evaluation. And there were likely going to be super soldiers from around the world that were going to be joining Overwatch. He was running laps, breathing matching his steps. “Submit themselves for an evaluation.” He mocked as he ran, knowing that he had hours before he was due for his meeting with the evaluators. 

So he did what everyone else was doing; enjoying their free time. With the Omnic Crisis behind them and a time of peace spreading out before them, Jack slowed his run down to a walk, bringing his body down from it’s high. “On your left.” Gabriel said as he sped by. “Getting tired already Jackie?” 

“Stop calling me that  _ pendejo!!!”  _

_ “ _ Oh-ho he thinks he’s funny. Calling me such a name in my mother tongue.” Gabriel replied as he turned back around. “You looking for a fight so that I can mess up that posterboy face of yours?” he brought both fists up, smirk painting his lips. 

“Oh I’m always game.” Jack moved off to the grass area of the track and brought his own loosely balled fists up.

“You’re gonna hit like a girl just like you always do.” Gabriel grinned and moved forward on the attack. In sync when in battle, it didn’t change when they faced each other. Every punch, every kick was countered by the other, evenly matched, and neither coming out on top. As much as Gabriel threatened to hit Jack in the face he never did. Let the poster boy have his pretty face, he knew that he left bruises everywhere else. 

“Hey you two! It’s time for breakfast, and Jack your eval is shortly after that!”

“Thanks mom!” Jack called back to the woman who had come to find them. However that distraction had him doubling over as Gabriel plowed his fist into Jack’s stomach. He groaned, gripping onto Gabriel’s forearm, and used that to whip the man around, sending him flying and rolling in the grass. “Fuck Gabriel that hurt.” 

“Good, it was meant to.” The man replied with a grin as he got to his feet and moved over, clapping his arm around Jack’s shoulders. “Let’s go eat and make sure you don’t blow this eval.” The older man led Jack towards the mess hall both of them laughing over their morning. Old habits were hard to break, and whenever they were on base, they started their mornings with running anyway. 

Breakfast was a loud and boisterous affair. Many were nursing hangovers, but that didn’t stop others from being obnoxious or teasing them because of it. Despite being hungry for what was in front of him, Jack was actually slightly nervous about what he was going to answer in that evaluation. It wasn’t something that he ever actively thought about. But hadn’t he always gotten what he wanted? Hadn’t everything he had ever wanted been at his fingertips? Saying the right things, in the right places to the right people had landed him right where he was. And he wasn’t a slouch in the field either. Hadn’t he kept Gabriel next to him because he was the only person he could trust? Would this evaluation reveal all of that? Not if he was careful. 

The time came for Jack to head for his evaluation, and he grinned wide at Gabriel before he sauntered off. Once he was out of sight of everyone though, he dropped his smiles and stood up straighter. This was the Commander that everyone would come to fear, and Jack knew that it was time to do exactly what he needed to get what he wanted, and what he wanted was everything. Nothing was going to stop him from getting what he desired. 

He entered the room, respectful, and smiling. “Ah, Master Sergeant Morrison. Welcome. We’re glad you decided to come in for this evaluation. It won’t take long, I promise.” The psychiatrist was sitting behind her desk, and Jack turned on the old tried and true Morrison charm, sitting down after shaking her hand.

“Anything to keep helping the world.” He smiled, though that faded as she held out a paper and a pen to him. “What is this?”

“Questions I need you to answer before we move on. Just answer them as accurately as you can. Your first answer is usually the correct one in this case.” 

Jack glanced down at the paper and started to read, answering as he went. He answered everything truthfully, before handing the paper back to her along with the pen. Her eyes glanced down and took note of the answers that had been written down. 

  1. Do you joke about yourself or like it when people joke about you? T
  2. Do you fail to learn from experience? F
  3. Do you particularly care about how others feel? No
  4. You’ve just hurt someone’s feelings. How does that make you feel? It is normal
  5. Are you aggressive or cool headed? Depends on situation
  6. Are you generally an anxious person? False
  7. Are you responsive to other socially? T
  8. Do you tell lies or say insincere things? T
  9. You are superficially charming and intelligent? T
  10. You have delusions or other signs of irrational thinking? F
  11. Your behaviour is anti-social for no good reason? F
  12. You have poor judgement. F
  13. You are pathologically egocentric, and incapable of love? T
  14. You generally lack the ability to react emotionally? T
  15. Your sex life is impersonal, trivial, or poorly integrated? T
  16. When you say you’re sorry, you usually don’t mean it. T
  17. You often act before you think about the consequences. F
  18. You got in trouble a lot when you were kid. F
  19. You are very good at manipulating people and situations. T
  20. You have been cruel to animals. F



Her eyes flicked up to the blonde haired blue eyed man before her and she leaned back. “Tell me Jackson….” 

“Please call me Jack. Only my mother calls me Jackson.” He interrupted her with a smile. 

“Jack.” The psychiatrist corrected herself before continuing. “Tell me about what you’ve had to do during the Omnic crisis.” For the next hour Jack and the woman talked about all his missions, how they left him feeling, and his attachments to his squad. She didn’t write anything down while they talked, giving him her complete and undivided attention. Once their meeting concluded, she shook his hand again with a smile. 

Once he was out of her office, she sat back in her chair, and felt her body shake. That man was terrifying, and she would have to give a comprehensive report to those who wanted to form Overwatch...He couldn’t be allowed Command of the special ops….

A knock at her door brought her out of her concentration as she wrote up her evaluation based on his answers on the test and his replies to her questions. Glancing up, she saw the tall Latino super soldier at her door. “Ah, Sergeant Major Reyes. Come on in, you’re a little early.” She said with a smile. 

“Actually because of how long you took with Jackie, I’m late.” His words made her eyes flick to her clock and flush red.

“Oh my I’m so sorry Sergeant Major. If you’ll answer this for me, I’ll be able to conduct our interview. Just need to finish this up.” She said as she held the same test out to Gabriel. He took it, and took longer than Jack did with the answers, while she finished up writing her report on Morrison. 

As she saved the file, she found the answered quiz on her desk from Gabriel. 

  1. Do you joke about yourself or like it when people joke about you? T
  2. Do you fail to learn from experience? F
  3. Do you particularly care about how others feel? Yes
  4. You’ve just hurt someone’s feelings. How does that make you feel? Guilty
  5. Are you aggressive or cool headed? Depends on situation
  6. Are you generally an anxious person? False
  7. Are you responsive to other socially? T
  8. Do you tell lies or say insincere things? F
  9. You are superficially charming and intelligent? F
  10. You have delusions or other signs of irrational thinking? F
  11. Your behaviour is anti-social for no good reason? F
  12. You have poor judgement. F
  13. You are pathologically egocentric, and incapable of love? F
  14. You generally lack the ability to react emotionally? F
  15. Your sex life is impersonal, trivial, or poorly integrated? F
  16. When you say you’re sorry, you usually don’t mean it. F
  17. You often act before you think about the consequences. F
  18. You got in trouble a lot when you were kid. F
  19. You are very good at manipulating people and situations. T
  20. You have been cruel to animals. F



“Thank you Gabriel.” Despite knowing she shouldn’t compare the two of them, she noted the differences in answers, and smiled at Gabriel. “Tell me about what you’ve had to do during the Omnic crisis.” It didn’t take as long to get through this part with Gabriel, as he told her everything straight up as it was, and didn’t beat around the bush. He was straight forward, honest, and kept his answers short without embellishment.

“Thank you for your time Sergeant Major Reyes.” She said formally, before she shook his hand, and started to type up her report on the man. Gabriel was quick to leave the room and head back to his crew. 

Unlike Morrison, she wanted to put Reyes in charge of everything. It would be greatly beneficial for the entire world, and the organization moving forward, but that would likely put Morrison in the SpecOps, and that was a bad idea. She was torn as she wrote her report up, and ultimately it wasn’t her decision, it was the UN’s.

It was a few weeks before the announcement that Overwatch was being formed. Everyone was dressed in their formal uniforms, pressed and perfect the day that they were to receive their new positions. 

Jack and Gabriel stood next to each other, other super soldiers that were joining Overwatch arrayed around them all. The Ceremony droned on as Overwatch was instated as a global organization for peacekeeping and freedom. “For his work during the Omnic Crisis, Jackson Morrison has been promoted to Strike Commander, and overseer of Overwatch.” Jack grinned and got up on the stage to accept his promotion. He shook hands, took the photos. His medals were pinned on, his stripes replaced. 

“For his work during the Omnic Crisis, Gabriel Reyes has been promoted to Commander of Overwatch.” Gabriel was confused because he didn’t think he was co-Commandering with Jack, but as he got up on stage, did his turn with the photos and the hand shakes, he was pulled off to the side, and his position explained to him. His fighting days weren’t over yet. He was to be the Commander of Blackwatch, the Special Ops that would do what Overwatch couldn’t public cover. For all intents and purposes, he had ceased to exist. 

The party went well on into the night, and over the next week, everyone moved into the new Overwatch bases. The UN, on advisement from the psychiatrist, assigned someone unknown to either Jack or Gabriel to watch over Jack. Someone on the outside, who would have no attachments to the man to cloud their judgement. And the UN decided that the best fit for this position was Ana Amari, the fabled sharpshooter from Egypt. 

Overwatch hit the ground running and started to make a difference in the world. Between protecting the world from mercenary groups and small batches of Omnics that were still possessed by God AI programs, they had their hands full. And yet Ana still found some of Jack’s reactions strange. Some of his heart felt speeches felt… empty. 


	2. Whiskey Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing: 3 OC's. Each one has a different interaction with Jack Morrison later on. 
> 
> Hope this serves to give insight to the characters.

With the ceremony over, everyone was moved into the new barracks of one large operation center. There were new watchpoints springing up, but for the most part everyone was stationed at the same set of barracks. Those who were straight military before were split up into different divisions, most of those who went through SEP were made Strike Operatives, directly reporting to Strike Commander Jack Morrison. Strike Operatives were required to report for duties and assignments, but for the most part people who were squadmates from before were still in the same squad. Everyone was chatting about Jack and about how many were seeing less and less of Reyes these days. That was enough to cause comment, especially if they knew the pair from the days of the Omnic Crisis. Reyes and Morrison had gone everywhere together, had worked so closely together it was a surprise that they weren’t working together now.

Off to the side, three women were sitting in a triangle, chatting amongst themselves. 

“So you’re finally leaving us for Medical?” the brawler asked as she leaned back, staring hard at her friend with the brown hair and glasses. She carded fingers through her red violet hair, and huffed a sigh, legs crossed over each other as she held onto her glass. 

“Yes Madi I have to. You are so in control of your enhancements, you don’t need my services anymore. The chance to work with Ziegler doesn’t come around every day, and I can’t let it pass me by. If things go well with her then I’ll be able to be her second in command, and help run the medical division.” Soft words, soft voice. Everything about Haruhi screamed soft, but she was a demon the field if someone she cared about was hurt. 

“It will be good for her  _ mon amie. _ Do not stand in her way.” The french accent was strong from their third member, her hair pulled up in a ponytail as she raised her glass to her soft friend. “Not all of us can be as hard and sure as you are Madi.” 

Madilyn huffed again but smiled. “I would never stop either of you from pursuing your dreams or your calling. I’ll support you both, no matter what. That’s why we’re friends right?” She asked as she held her glass up. “To friends, the best of friends. May no one come between us and what is right in the world.” She toasted before the other two lifted their glasses and all three leaned in to clink. No one would have thought that the three of them would have been friends, at least not the two smaller women with the brawler. 

But friends they were; the Brawler with her rough exterior, red violet hair and quick words.  **_Madilyn “Rambo” Hatherton._ ** Blue eyes that missed nothing, and fists that would rather punch first then ask questions. She was the classic and all powerful definition of a Soldier. She listened to orders, and never did she disobey them. She completed her mission without question, and without qualms. An MMA fighter from the time she had been 14, she had lived and survived through the Omnic Crisis. She had signed up to be part of the military as soon as she was able to. Powering through basic training, she kept her ears open for another round of calls for the Soldier Enhancement Program, and she didn’t hesitate. She applied, was accepted and that where she had met Haruhi. The woman was assigned as her personal medic for the start because the injections did terrible and strange things to people on occasion. The pair were lucky it didn’t happen, instead it enhanced abilities that were already there, and gave her a few….new ones. Madilyn was already a brawler, preferring her fists to a gun, and the new abilities she found herself with were great for adding to that. A suit of armor, not unlike the Crusaders from Germany, was made for her. She let her childhood game be the base for the design and while it could take a hit, a Bastion could still tear through it. 

**_Haruhi “Arrow” Standford._** The Medic with her brown hair nearing the soft colour of suede, and soft voice that always sounded like she was singing. Body toned enough to take on the brawler, but preferring to heal over fight. Brown eyes that spoke of calm woods, and a smile that could melt even the hardest of hearts. She was the oldest of all of them but everyone thinks of her as young. Haruhi was a respected medical assistant in the SEP program, and when she was assigned to the Brawler it was with a little trepidation that she watched the woman closely. The SEP injections amplified everything, including personality and emotions. Recruited from the hospitals while still in school, the military fast tracked her training so that she would be ready for everything the SEP threw at her. It didn’t hurt that she was able to handle any and all of the candidates that SEP threw at her because of her extensive martial arts training. It was without a doubt the SEP’s intention to throw the most volatile and dangerous of the SEP soldiers at her, because her ability to handle them. And before the Omnic Crisis, she had just been a normal person, going to school to be a nurse, and help people. When Madilyn was seen fit for duty, Haruhi had grown attached to the woman, and requested to be transferred with her so as to act as the field medic for whatever squad the woman was in.

The third of them, the Astrologer, with her blue hair and eyes of crystal, also had a smile that could melt hearts, but she seemed more innocent then the medic.  **_Lunella “Astro” Martin._ ** Her French accent, and her calm demeanour made her everyone’s choice for a second in command, because she broke no nonsense and made sure everyone did their job. She had joined Haruhi and Madilyn when Madilyn had been assigned to a unit. This woman had been Sergeant Major Mathers’ Second in Command, and yet her rank hadn’t stopped her from making friend the SEP Soldier and her Medic. In France she had been called the Star Child with some reverence and fear. And when she came to the military towards the end of the Omnic Crisis, she hid her abilities from everyone. It wasn’t safe for her to display them, she knew that. It had been that way for years before she had joined into the joint task force to end the Omnic Crisis. And once Overwatch was formed, she was able to get assistance with harnessing her powers from the SEP officials who were used to dealing with the strange and unusual. 

As a trio they were unstoppable, as they had shown time and time again on the field against the Omnics and now, they were losing one of their members….

“Ah, Madilyn, I’m also leaving Strike. They believe that I’ll be best suited for assisting with logistics. But every month, we’ll meet here yes? And we’ll have a drink and get caught up?” Lunella asked a slightly worried expression crossing her face as she watched the brawler process the news.

“Oh…” Madilyn looked decidedly uncomfortable, and rubbed her upper arm. “Well I’m disappointed we won’t still be together, but I’m happy for both of you. Besides, without you two I’ll be able to actually hurt people when I’m out in the field.” She teased, knowing that she would be extra careful to always come back for that drink every month. They finished their drinks, conversations turning off to the inconsequential, and good natured ribbing so common in the military. 

“Standford, Martin.” The names were said, and all three turned to look up at the man who was standing next to them. “Commander Morrison has requested to see you both in the morning at 0800.” 

“Of course. We’ll go see him first thing.  _ Merci! _ ” Lunella smiled up at the man before turning her smile on Madilyn. “Well, we better both head to bed. 0800 will come sooner than we want.” She said as she stood up and set her glass down. “Good night  _ mon amie.” _ She said softly leaning down and giving Madilyn’s cheek a quick buss, and then headed for her rooms. 

Haruhi tossed her drink back and nodded. “I’m also headed to bed. Be safe Madi. Please.” 

“I’m nothing but safe.” She replied with a smirk up at the other. “But I will be careful. Enjoy working with Ziegler.” Her other cheek was giving a friendly kiss and then Madilyn was left alone, staring at the amber of her whiskey. Her body slouched both feet thrown up on the table in front of her. She brought her glass up, and looked at the ice and alcohol swimming in the same glass. Something was wrong, but she didn’t know what it was...and she wanted to put it down to just residual feelings from the Omnic Crisis. It was still fresh and evil in everyone’s minds, and she hoped it was just paranoia left over from that.

She wasn’t jealous over her friends getting separate assignments, because she wasn’t suited to be anything but a soldier. Her background and the SEP had served to see to that. She wasn't a leader like Reyes or Morrison, she just followed orders. The whiskey burned as she drank, but as her eyes turned to the ceiling, she couldn’t shake the feeling of paranoia that pervaded her body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lunella's dictionary:  
> Mon amie - My friend  
> Merci - Thank you


	3. Red Flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one wants to believe that their best friend is a sociopath. But Ana is sending up Red Flags for Gabriel. 
> 
> Introducing Jesse McCree, the 17 year old smart mouth with too much foul language and a smart attitude that's kept him alive.
> 
> WARNING: Rape Mention (It's used an interrogation technique.)

“ _ Dios Mio… _ ” He grunted as he carried another crate into place. The Blackwatch barracks were so far away from everyone else, and while he didn’t mind it, it made moving things a little bit difficult.

“Commander, Morrison’s Second is here. She’s been looking for you.” 

Gabriel’s eyes immediately swung over to look at one of operatives and gave a small sigh. They had just busted down Deadlock, and he had a teenager in his interrogation room he was letting stew. “Where is she?” 

“Your office sir.” 

“Fuck. Alright, I’m on my way there.” The Blackwatch Commander had added new scars to his face, his body was so much leaner than it had been before, and he was tired. If anyone asked, he said he was okay, but in reality, he needed a break so badly that he was going crazy. But he would keep going, keep shoving through it all. They had to catch a break soon.

His footsteps were quick as he entered his office and closed the door behind him, locking it. “Amari. What can I do for you?” He asked as he sat down behind his desk. 

“I wanted to talk to you….About Jack.” She said softly, leaning back in her chair. “However, what I talk to you about can’t leave this room.” 

Dark brown eyes narrowed as he watched her. “Of course, but what are you talking about that can’t leave this room?” 

“You’ve known him the longest, and I was assigned as his second in command over you. Why? How in sync you two were was talked about nearly world wide within Super Soldier ranks. How is it that you are not with him now as his second in command?” Her own dark brown eyes watched the Latino in front of her. 

“Why? I honestly have no idea. All I know is that ever since I became the Commander of Blackwatch, I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Jack outside of official briefings.” He replied, leaning back in his own chair, hands folded over his stomach. 

_ “ OI PENDEJO! ¡Déjame salir de aquí! Usted no me puede guardar me aquí, conozco mis derechos! Vamos, hijo de puta! Mata me o dejame ir a la cárcel con el resto de mis hermanos! ” _ Those tinny words fluttered through his speakers, and he reached over and turned the sound off, but on the screen to the side, the teenager was growling and spitting out curses, tied to a chair in a Blackwatch interrogation room.  ****

“Why do you ask about it Amari?” He asked her, watching her instead of the screen for a moment. 

“Because I think he’s a sociopath. There’s something wrong with him, but I’m not sure if it’s just left over issues from the Omnic crisis or if he’s actually a sociopath.” She said bluntly. 

Gabriel’s eyes went wide, and he stared at her like she had grown a third head. “Jack? A sociopath?” The man started to laugh hard not taking her seriously. It was one of those full body laughs that one would expect out of Reinhardt, and Gabriel couldn’t stop, hands slamming onto his desk in his mirth. However, Ana Amari just sat there, with her arms crossed waiting for him to calm down and take this seriously. “Wait you’re serious? Amari, what could honestly lead you to believe that that boy is a sociopath? He’s literally the most white bread, unsalted cracker, vanilla ass motherfucker in this entire organization.” He dissolved into laughter again because damn it that was too funny. Jack Morrison, a sociopath! What a joke.

However, the longer he laughed, the more he realized that the Egyptian woman was completely serious. And she was patiently waiting for him to stop laughing. His laughter slowed to a chuckle, and gave a soft sigh of happiness. “I needed that laugh, thanks Amari.” 

“Reyes I’m serious. I’ve caught him in a couple lies, and while he always has SOME excuse for what he’s lied about, it’s always about some major things. On top of that he’s lacking in emotional connection to some people, and I don’t think he’s got a life outside of the job. For example I don’t think he contacts his family, and I’m 90% sure he’s not seeing anyone.” She said, her face completely deadpanned. 

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward suddenly serious. “He hasn’t contacted his mother? Or his sisters?” 

“Not that I’ve heard or seen, and I’ve got his office tapped for reasons. The UN mentioned that I needed to track everything about this guy. But I don’t know him, not like you do. I’m honestly not sure what’s him just having residual feelings about the Omnic Crisis and what’s him actually being...well...a sociopath,” She said, before glancing over at the screen to see the teenager with his feet up on the table and napping. “How much longer are you gonna sweat that kid?” 

Gabriel’s eyes glanced over and grinned. “I’m about to go down and offer him a deal. Care to join me? Would love someone to be the ‘good cop’ as it were. He knows English by the way, he just really likes speaking Spanish slurs.”

Ana tapped her chin. “Hmmm….Think you can control him?” 

Gabriel snorted. “Please. I controlled your ‘sociopath’ Jack Morrison for years. I can handle one teenaged brat.” The Blackwatch Commander stood up, and rotated his shoulders, before he moved to the door and held it open to her. “You should keep me posted on Jack though. I may have been able to control him, but I also had access to him 24/7. I don’t have that access anymore, and if you are right, we could all be in trouble.” This wasn’t an admission that she was right, but if Jack hadn’t contacted his family recently...that was bad. It had been months since they had become Overwatch, and that was red flag number one to Gabriel.

Ana nodded and moved out of the office, and lead the way down to the interrogation rooms. Gabriel followed closely behind her and grinned as she slammed into the room. “Wake up  _ pendejo. _ Nap time’s over.” She said kicking the table of the way and out from under his feet. 

The younger kid looked up at her scared for a moment before he started to snarl. “I don’t give ah shit what ya want Lady. I ain’t gonna talk. Ain’t noone gonna say Jesse McCree is ah dirty squealer.” He glared up at her, before his vision was filled with Gabriel’s chest. “Get tha fuck away from me,  _ puta! _ ” 

“Here’s the thing kid. You’ve got two choices here. You can refuse what we’re going to offer you, and we’ll send you to some high security prison where cute little boys like you are basically currency, and you can get your ass raped, never be able to speak without being given permission to, and probably get killed in a brawl unable to defend yourself. What do you think Amari? Wouldn’t he make a great bitch for some big burly guy named Big Joe?” Gabriel had moved around behind Jesse and reached out turning his face up to face Ana. 

She tapped her chin, and smirked. The kid had tried to bite Gabriel when he had grabbed his face. “You’re not wrong Reyes. He does look like someone’s bitch. However, we can save you from that fate kid. You can join him,” she paused and pointed at Gabriel. “And he’ll teach you how to do things the right way that won’t get your ass thrown in a cell. He’ll give you 3 square meals a day, and he’ll give you a new home. Those are your options; jail time where you may or may not get passed around, or join him. He’s not going to make you give up information on Deadlock. We’ve got all we could want for information on them, but he’s going to give you another chance to be better than you were.” 

Jesse had looked terrified when Gabe had described what would happen to him, but his eyes gleamed brightly. He wasn’t stupid, he knew a real offer when he heard one. This would keep him alive, and he would be free to live. Hell he’d be free to get away from the gang he had only joined to be safe. While he was loyal to Deadlock because of necessity, he wasn’t so loyal to not take a free pass when he had one. “I wanna keep mah hat.” He said, glaring up at Gabriel. 

The Blackwatch Commander snorted, gesturing between himself and Amari. “Do you see the difference kid? We don’t care what you wear in Blackwatch. We just want you to get your damn job done. And we’ll have a training session…” He leaned in and sniffed at McCree before waving a hand in front of his face exaggeratedly. “After you get a shower and food. In that order. Christ kid when was the last time you showered?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:   
> Dios Mio - My god  
> OI PENDEJO! ¡Déjame salir de aquí! Usted no me puede guardar me aquí, conozco mis derechos! Vamos, hijo de puta! Mata me o dejame ir a la cárcel con el resto de mis hermanos! - OI IDIOT! Let me out of here! You can not keep me here, I know my rights! Come on, motherfucker! Kill me or let me go to jail with the rest of my brothers!  
> Pendejo - idiot  
> Puta - bitch


	4. The Transfer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new transfer results in a fight. 
> 
> We really see Caring Commander Gabriel in this chapter.
> 
> Warnings: Death mention, Grief

For months after that encounter, everything seemed to progress smoothly. There didn’t seem to be any further major issues with Jack, but Ana was still spending more and more time in the Blackwatch Barracks getting a better handle on Jack and where he came from. She became good friends with Gabriel, and Jesse, who would be found sometimes babysitting her daughter. Given that he had been raised in Deadlock, he wasn’t always the best at it, but he tried really hard, and soon Fareeha was calling him her big brother. 

For all intents and purposes, Gabriel had become Jesse’s father figure. Jesse mouthed off to everyone but Gabriel, always giving him respect after Gabriel had beat it into him. With a good set of meals, and steady training, Jesse had really filled out, sprouting up to his full 6’1” height, putting him on eye level with Gabriel. As he progressed through the training, the hard work, he became closer to Gabriel then he thought he would. Jesse became close enough to become Gabriel’s new second in command, and was brought in on what was going on with Jack, and the runnings of Blackwatch.

Overwatch as an organization had been around now for a year and a half, and many were clamouring to join them. Recruitment drives were always full, and rarely were they met with negative feedback. In the back of Gabriel’s mind what Ana had told him that first day she had been in his office still rattled around. Jack? A sociopath? He had done work to find out more about it, and realized honestly, that she might actually be right. But if Jack was one, shouldn’t he also have the same issues? They faced the same situations. Thoughts like these kept him up sometimes, and sometimes distracted him from conversations. Like just now when Ana had to call his name three times to get his attention again.

“Sorry what?” He asked as he came back to the present. 

“Jack’s sending one of his operatives to your division Gabriel. I don’t think she’ll be loyal to him though. She….” Ana trailed off as she looked over Gabriel’s shoulder. “She’s here.” 

Gabriel turned and looked over his shoulder at the woman. She was standing in doorway of the recreation room, with her duffel slung over her shoulder, and her blue eyes looked around. Jesse stood up and moved over to her with a sultry smile. “Hey darlin’ ya lost?” He leaned against the wall, one arm up and watching her. He figured she was about...about 6 years older than he was, and he didn’t care.

Icy blue eyes turned up to him, and narrowed. “Where’s Commander Reyes?” Her voice was terse, clipped. It was apparent she didn’t want to be here. But honestly, who did? This wasn’t a division with a great reputation.

Gabriel stood up, and crossed his arms watching her. “I’m right here.” 

Her hand reached behind her, and Jesse’s hand immediately went to his six shooter, prepared to take her down if she thought to do anything to Gabriel. Her eyes flickered to his hand and then stared directly into his expressive grey eyes. When her hand came back out from behind her back, she was holding her transfer documents. Jesse relaxed a little bit, but not much.

There was a slight flutter to her hand as she stepped forward, holding the papers out to him. “Poster Boy told me to hand these to you.” Her eyes flicked up and down him, and then ran her tongue around her teeth with a derisive noise. 

“Poster Boy?” Gabriel’s eyebrow winged up, looked down at her. He had an idea of who she was talking about, he had used that term before to describe Jack, but he hadn’t even used it in anything other than a joking manner. She was using it as an insult.

“Yeah, the blonde ass motherfucker we call Strike Commander. Poster Boy.” Her arms crossed, her duffel still sitting solidly on her shoulder. 

Jesse started to laugh, but Gabriel wasn’t impressed. Nor was Ana. “You should show respect to your superior officers.” The Egyptian woman spoke up, her own arms crossed over her chest, staring slightly down at the other woman. The disrespect wasn’t something that Ana had been expecting out of woman like this. Everything about her screamed that she was a soldier and that she would follow orders and respect the authority. What had happened to her to make her like this?

“I have no respect for that man. Now you, Captain Amari, I have immense amounts of respect for. I had posters of you on my walls when I was going through training.” The woman rotated her shoulder. Everything about her was screaming aggression and wanting a fight. 

Gabriel looked down at her, and crossed his arms. “Madilyn Hatherton, codename: Rambo. You were sent to me because you can’t follow orders?” He asked, wondering if she was going to be a problem.

“Is that what he wrote down? Seriously?” Her face showed shock before she gave a noise of disgust. “I fucking followed my mission orders, as I always have. I’m a soldier, not an officer. My orders were to complete my mission, and destroy the leftover God AI that was in the Omnics. I did that, as well as retrieved extra information….” She snarled back, before she dropped her duffel and paced. “I CHOSE TO COMPLETE THE MISSION INSTEAD OF DIE! I LISTENED TO MY SQUAD SCREAMING IN PAIN IN MY COMM UNIT.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears, as she whipped around. “But what the fuck would you know about that? Word is you’ve been hiding here having the time of your life while the rest of us still put our lives on the line. We don’t hear much of the Great Gabriel fucking Reyes in the news any more. Must be nice taking a vacation while the rest of us are still fucking dying.”

Reactions around the recreation room were varied, but the room was silent except for what was going on with Madilyn and Gabriel. “Is she seriously calling the Commander out? She hasn’t even been here for an hour…” That whisper sounded like a shout, and yet everyone waited with baited breath to see what would happen.

Gabriel could see right through her. She was hurting, and she was looking for a fight. But he had to squash this. If he let her disrespect him, he would lose all his respect that he had been gaining in the last year and a half. But a lot of what she was saying wasn’t actually true, it was mostly her pain taking hold and removing any sort of filter she would have had. “If you’re looking for a fight come on then. You couldn’t take me if you tried.” 

Her hand immediately went into her pocket and pulled out a switchblade. “I’m going to fucking destroy you Reyes. You’ve gone soft.” She snarled before she launched forward her blade out and held blade pointed out. It was a good grip, one she used regularly.

Jesse gave a cry out of caution, but Gabriel was ready for her anyway. He caught her wrist, and underestimated her, a mistake he wouldn’t make again. She used her attack as a distraction and knocked his feet out from under him. “You know nothing about me. I’m a brawler, this is where I want to be. Should have actually read those transfer papers asshole,” She snarled, fist slamming down for his face. He caught her hand again, and rolled them over so that he was on top. She didn’t allow him that for long, as she braced both feet against his stomach and shoved back. His hands let hers go, as he flew back onto his feet. Around them, the rest of Blackwatch was clearing out the space around Gabriel and Madilyn for a makeshift fighting ring. 

Her body jacked up, and she was once again on her feet, looking for any weakness in Gabriel’s defense and attacks. Her fists jabbed in, looking, searching. Gabriel’s hands were quick as he avoided her, blocking and weaving in and out of her fists. They seemed so evenly matched, but in her mind, she knew she was weaker. The only person who stood a chance against Reyes was Poster Boy. He caught her hand, and pulled her forward. Reaction had her slamming her shoulder up into his stomach, and trying to take him down so that she could pin and hit him, but she soon found herself face down on the floor. 

Before he got a good pin on her, she was kicking back and rolling away from him, that switchblade still in hand. Regaining her feet, blue eyes flicked to the side. She watched him mimic the action, ensuring she wouldn't surprise him. However in that slight moment of distraction, she launched forward, slid under his guard and sliced his sweater open. He jumped away from her before she actually cut him, but there was now a sizable hole in his sweater, and he glanced down at it with brown eyes going hard and angry. 

He was done playing this on the defensive, as he went on the attack. She was hard pressed to stop him from getting a hold of her, and took more than a few fists to her body and one to the face. They felt like a bag of bricks slamming into her even with her own Soldier Enhancements. 

He had to have a weakness, everyone did. She thought she found one, and as she took it, realized her mistake too late. Losing her switchblade to him, and finding herself pinned to the ground and the knife at her neck, she struggled to free herself and not cut her skin on that knife. His hand was fisted in her hair, ass on her lower back with one boot holding her right hand pinned at the wrist and his left knee pinning her left forearm down. His anger was fading now that things were back in his control, and he again was the calm Commander that the entirety of Blackwatch loved and respected. 

“You done Rambo? Because I believe you. I know what you’re going through, but I need you to trust me. I have every reason to believe that you did what you thought was right, and even if your squad fell for it, you still came back. You didn’t run. You faced your punishment, and everything that went with it. I can help you, but you have to let me.” His voice was deep, soft, reassuring. He had broken a sweat, but wasn’t breathing hard. 

Gabriel removed the knife from her neck and let her roll over onto her back looking up at him. “Why...Why are you being so damn nice? You could have just written me up for insubordination, attacking an officer...Anything...Why are you trying so hard?” Tears swam in her eyes and she brought both hands up to cover her face. 

He had one knee on the ground, and closed the switchblade, laying it next to her. He pulled her hands away from her face, and pointed at Jesse. “He used to be part of Deadlock. Now look at him, he could almost pass for a good member of society except for the fact that he insists on looking like a 1800’s cowboy.” and he continued, pointing out everyone and telling her where they had come from. 

“We’re one big family here in Blackwatch Madilyn. We have to be, because if we don’t stick together, this job gets really hard. We need each other, and if showing you who’s boss, and proving to you that I believe is what it takes, then so be it. I’m not Morrison. I’m not going to just abandon you or shuffle you off to the side. So tell me what happened to you….” 

She gave a soft sob and managed to sit up. Words tumbled from her mouth, telling him everything, how Jack had preached that the squad as more important than the mission, and how she had firmly believed that she would be able to save her squad and complete the mission. How her commanding officer on the mission had been taken out and command had fallen to her. How she had been fed false information; a team of Omnics had found and had killed all of them. How she had listened to them screaming as she did her job, because she was already there, and 95% of the way done. How the first face she had seen after she had gotten back was Jack’s and how disappointed he had looked in her. She told him about how he had been cold, angry, and disappointed in her. There had been no chance for her to properly mourn her squad, there had been no opportunity to go see the psychiatrist on base. No time to grieve. She had become his example of what not to do. 

She only had eyes for her hands, but the rest of the room that was listening to her talk had differing reactions. Anger, disgust, sadness. Ana was jotting this down. This wasn’t good, wasn’t anything like what Jack should have been like. This was concerning, and she would have to talk to Gabriel about it in private, get a better idea.

“I...just tried so hard. I did my job to the best of my ability. Isn’t it better to have that God AI gone? Isn’t it better to have the world still turning with people on it, then possibly losing 15 soldiers?” She asked, turning her eyes up from her hands to Gabriel’s face. Red rimmed blue eyes went wide when large mocha hands cupped her face. He looked pained for her, like he understood the decision she had had to make. And he did understand. He had had to make that call more times then he could count, and every time it was a little harder to hide from the demons it left behind.

“You did good soldier. You made the right call, regardless of whatever he told you. And you are going to continue to do good. Do you understand me?” 

“Y-yes sir.” Her voice was soft and she soon felt arms wrapped around her. But they weren’t Gabriel’s. Jesse was hugging her from behind. It startled her completely. He had been threatening to shoot her not even 20 minutes ago.  
  
“Everythin’ will alrigh’ darlin’. Just follow what Commander Reyes tells ya, and everythin’ will be a-okay.” He said, giving her the first contact of comfort since the mission. Madilyn picked up that switchblade and put it back in her pocket, before she turned and hugged Jesse back. Gabriel stood up, and looked over at Ana, who was looking as concerned as he was. There might be more to this than they originally thought. It was time to come up with a plan, because if this was how Jack was going to react, there was something desperately wrong.


	5. The Unwitting Mole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finds out about plans in place against him. Haruhi and Lunella are faced with a decision.

Another year passed, and Ana kept Gabriel apprised of everything that was going on. Everything seemed to once again settle into a normal pattern until Haruhi found documents in Ziegler’s office while she was looking for something else. These were...reports on Jack Morrison? And his mental issues? She knew she shouldn’t read them, but her curiosity as to how the infamous Jack Morrison matched against her friend’s information had her looking. She paused in her searching as she read through them. They were so detailed, and she really grew concerned when she saw at the end, a plan for if Jack got out of control, signed by Gabriel Reyes, Ana Amari, and Jesse McCree. For a moment she stared at it, and didn’t know what to do, or what to react with. She snapped the file closed, and filed it back away before she leaned against the filing cabinet. 

“I...I have to talk to someone…” Her first thought was Madilyn, but she knew that with the woman’s intense hatred for Jack, she would just tell her that it was a bad idea and to leave it alone. Madilyn had stopped meeting with them every month, because she was never around. Always out on missions, or just...too busy with Blackwatch matters. At least that’s what she told the other two, and Haruhi was hurt because of it. Hadn’t they been through enough that she could tell them anything? 

She pulled out her phone and texted Lunella instead. **_I need to talk with you soon. Are you available tonight?_**

She was about to put the device away when it pinged softly at her.  **_I am. I’ll come to your rooms at 8 mon amie. Shall we invite Madi?_ **

They still tried. They still send her invitation to join them, even if she never accepted them. Haruhi hesitated for a moment before replying.  **_No. It doesn’t concern her…_ **

**_It must be serious if you don’t want to try and include Madi in it. I will be by at 6. This is much too serious to leave off for a later time. Please be careful Haruhi...We’ve lost one friend to Blackwatch, I don’t want to see you go there too._ ** Normally this would have seemed strange to Haruhi, but since she spent time with Jack Morrison and Lunella… And heard why their friend had been sent to Blackwatch from the man himself. 

Haruhi found the files she had been originally looking for, and was soon going back to work, looking over at Angela with curious eyes. How could the woman betray Jack like that? Or have a plan in place to try and take him out? She was so confused, and when she finished her day shift, she moved towards her room, and arrived as Lunella was showing up.

“ _ Mon amie,  _ are you alright?” Lunella asked looking at her friend who was paler than she should be. 

“I don’t know. Come on, we should talk about this in my room instead of the hall.” She said as she unlocked her door and stepped in. Lunella immediately followed her in and closed the door behind her. 

“So what happened  _ ma cherie?” _

“I found files on Jack...Angela thinks that he might be a Sociopath...There were plans to take him out down at the bottom of the file…” 

“What were you doing looking through his file?” 

“Ah… I was looking for another file entirely and accidentally knocked it open. I couldn’t help my curiosity.” Haruhi was sitting down now watching her friend. “What do I do? I can’t just let them have plans like that against Jack...It’s not right. But how do I turn them in?”

Lunella sighed softly and leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers. “Hhmmmm…” she glanced at ceiling and heaved a soft sigh. “You will have to tell him  _ mon amie. _ He can’t be allowed to walk into this blindly.”

“How though? How do you tell a man that his friends have plans in place to kill him?” she asked, looking exceedingly stressed. 

“Then that’s what we’ll work on tonight  _ amie.  _ Tell me everything you read…” Lunella said, as they put their heads together to figure out what Haruhi would say. 

Even with a plan she was still days before she could work up the courage to talk to Jack about this. Finally she bit the bullet and went up to his door, knocking softly.

“Come in.” Jack’s voice was soft, but could be heard in reaction to the knock on his door.

“Ah, Commander Morrison...I ….Could we talk briefly sir? Off the record?” Haruhi asked, fidgeting from where she stood in his doorway.

“Of course we can Haruhi, what’s the matter?” He replied as he sat down behind his desk and waited for her to close the door. Once it was closed, he gave her is undivided attention.

“This is difficult sir. But I think some people are against what you’re doing with Overwatch.” She said a little nervous about telling him who it was.

“Oh? A large portion of people are unimpressed with what we do here with Overwatch. It’s an unfortunate side effect of being effective. So you’ll have to give me some specific names or I’ll be unable to do anything.” He replied as his blue eyes conveyed a deep sense of patience and the ability to keep secrets.

“Ah Sir...”

“We’re alone Haruhi. You can call me Jack, we’re friends aren’t we?”

“Yes. Ah...Jack..” Haruhi rubbed the back of her neck. “I rehearsed this, but it’s still difficult to say.” 

“Take a deep breath and tell me. I will not hate you for what you tell me.” 

Haruhi took another deep breath, releasing it with a small sigh. “Jack I accidentally came across your medical file while I was searching for another file. It fell open, and I couldn’t help my curiosity as I read through it...At the end after all the psych evals, and medical records, was a plan to contain you, signed by Angela, Ana, Gabriel and a Jesse McCree. I don’t know the last name, but the first three...they’re your friends aren’t they...why would they do that?” She asked.

Jack gave a small hum, before he turned his chair around, looking out at the bright sunny day. He stood up moving closer to the window and looked over the barracks he was starting to call his kingdom. 

“This is surprising…” Jack mused softly. “But there’s nothing to be done. I’m sure they were merely being cautious. After all, I have the same plans in place for Gabriel should he succumb to the trials and terrors at being part of Blackwatch. You must understand with your extensive SEP knowledge and experience Haruhi that we’re very tough to kill, and would need a plan, as a fail safe if you will.”

She nodded, knowing that she also had plans on the very rare case that Madilyn lost her control, and had to be taken out. That knowledge had Haruhi accepting this but she still was nervous. After all, it wasn’t easy to tell a friend that other friends were trying to kill him. 

“Jack, speaking of Blackwatch... Can you recall a Blackwatch agent you recently sent there?”

“Who?” Jack turned back to Haruhi with a curious expression.

“Madilyn Hatherton. She’s not cut out to be Blackwatch. She could be rehabilitated, I swear!” 

“Ah...I was hoping to spare you from discovering this. I didn’t want to ruin your friendship with her. But she got her entire squad killed for information that meant little. We lost 14 good soldiers that day because she thought she knew better than what I had been telling everyone. I can’t chance that kind of death toll because of one person. So she’ll have to stay reassigned. I’m sorry Haruhi, I wish it could be different.” His voice was soft and believable. He had never lied to her before this, so Haruhi had no choice but to believe him. She didn’t want to, but past experiences with other SEP soldiers reinforced that it was plausible. 

“Of course Jack. I have to go back to Medical, but thank you for listening.”

“Thank you for warning me. I don’t think it will be an issue, but please let me know if anything changes, or you find out something new.” 

She left his office quickly and Jack turned back to the window considering his next options. He could allow the others to continue as they were and they could try and take him down, potentially succeeding, or Jack could destroy any hope they had, along with any further information leak he could have because of Ana. There was a hostage situation going down now, and that would be perfect opportunity to get rid of Ana.  
  
Jack pulled out a burner phone, and started dialing. He had money, and lots of it. He exited his office, heading for the open grounds where he could manage to make this call without being interrupted.


	6. The Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning signals are going off, and it might be too late. We learn a little more about Madilyn and what she went through before joining the military.
> 
> TAGS: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. (Technically canon death.) Angst, grief
> 
> Note: Posted early so that I can pound out the next couple chapters. My buffer is getting a little too close for comfort.

Jack glanced around himself. Everything was in place. He had just received confirmation from his informant that they would find and eliminate the sniper that would be covering them with one of their own. The Strike Commander grinned internally. Things were going according to plan. If they thought that they were going to overthrow him, they had another thing coming. Getting rid of Gabriel and Jesse though...That would be more difficult. But if he kept Blackwatch busy then he would be able to get rid of Gabriel and Jesse that way, and keep Angela so overworked she wouldn’t have time for anything else. 

The mission went off without a hitch. They managed to get in, rescue the hostages, and get out. However on their retreat they were targeted by a sniper that wasn’t their own. A few of the Strike Soldiers were taken out, and Jack radioed to Ana telling her about a sniper. He was hard pressed to hide his smirk from the others, when he heard her engaging the other sniper. Jack was merely praying that this wasn’t going to backfire on him. But Talon had assured him that the sniper was someone who could take out the fabled Ana Amari even with her enhanced eye. 

He was appropriately distraught over the loss of her comm link and worked hard with his team to get her body back once they had the hostages back on the drop ship. He had to make sure she was dead and wouldn’t be able to come back and stop him. When they found her, atop an apartment complex, the entire team that was left was distraught and sad. Tears swam in his eyes as he carefully carried her lifeless body, her rifle slung over his shoulder. Inside he was dancing with joy. Now he could promote someone loyal to him and he had just the person in mind. 

He left Angela to tell Fareeha about what had happened to her mother, and started to plan the funeral and Ana’s succession. Locked away in his office, he laughed to himself, leaning back in his chair as he looked out his window. Everything so far was going according to plan. Let Gabriel and McCree mourn for the woman who was trying to get him killed, for they would join her soon enough.

The morning of Ana Amari’s funeral was dark, and dreary just like the moods of everyone who was attending. Formal wear, dress uniforms. Red white and pink flowers. Sniffles from the teenage Fareeha and a distraught Angela who stayed near her at all times to monitor her emotional state and protect her. Gabriel, Jesse, Madilyn, Haruhi… So many lives touched by Ana Amari, so many sad faces. The large Crusader that had been so close to the Amari’s was there, standing at the back. There may have been a relationship between him and Ana but no one could confirm or deny and he certainly wasn’t talking about it. He wanted to maintain his privacy and while the media weren’t allowing him that and constantly asking questions that he refused to answer, no one at the funeral were invading his privacy. 

Helping carry the casket, Jack put on a good face, looking appropriately sad and dejected. In the eyes of the world a shining light for Overwatch had been snuffed out. Lunella was off to the side, watching him carefully. He had asked her to accompany him, and in the back of her mind warnings rang out from her friend in Blackwatch to not trust him. Madilyn had been so adamant that she stop interacting with Jack all together but she couldn’t. He was her boss and she couldn’t quite call him a friend but he was close. Besides everyone knew that once you went Blackwatch you weren’t trustworthy anymore. That was why Jack had said he had had to send Madilyn there. 

_ “I can’t trust her, not after the mission she had botched. And as such, she could never be trusted with something as important as others lives again.”  _ Those words of Jack’s rang in Lunella’s ears as she looked over the crowd.

Lunella’s eyes turned over to where Madilyn was standing with her new Division next to the prettied up cowboy Jesse McCree. The woman looked so smart and put together in her formal Blackwatch Uniform and a part of her wondered how a woman like that could have botched a mission. It didn’t seem right, not with how Lunella knew her. They had served together for years before Overwatch, and there was no way that Madilyn, the tried and true SEP soldier could botch a mission like that. Lunella was going to look into it if what Jack had promised came to pass. 

The ceremony was short, Ana’s uniform and medals being handed to Fareeha. Ana’s casket was lowered into the ground, and everyone reconvened in a hall where toasts were given for the fallen woman. Jack delivered a stirring eulogy, full of emotions, and heartfelt regret. Gabriel listened to those words which sounded strange to him, and knew, despite everything telling him that he was wrong, that Ana had been right. There was something desperately wrong with Jack, and his hesitance to believe her had cost Ana her life. 

Dark brown eyes watched that blonde Strike Commander with careful hatred. Feeling distinctly out of place in his formal wear, Gabriel was observing what was going on with Jack with well concealed anger. Next to him grey eyes were casting around them, and hands played with his case of cigars. “Boss, need ta step out fer a bit, you gonna be alright in ‘ere?” The southern drawl was soft, and those brown eyes swung down to look at him. 

“Yeah I’ll be alright.” Gabriel paused, looking around before he jerked his chin at the brawler who had been standing near them during the funeral. “Take her out with you. I don’t trust what’s going on, I’d rather if we didn’t go anywhere alone for a while.” He said, as he turned his attention back to the blonde who was standing with Fareeha and Angela. Something was wrong with this, but Gabriel couldn’t put his finger on it. There was no way that Ana had gotten found, she wasn’t that bad at her job. She was one of the best, if not THE BEST, sniper in the world. On top of that, Gabriel was now convinced of what Ana had been telling him. All the signs were there, everything clicked into place. Which meant that this could have been prevented if he had just trusted her from the start. But who wanted to believe that their best friend, a man they’ve known for years was a sociopath bent on controlling everything?

The cowboy nodded, motioned Lassiter over to stay with the Commander and tapped Madilyn’s shoulder. Red rimmed blue eyes turned up to meet his grey eyes, and he felt for her. He remember her telling him that she had had posters of Ana on her wall when she had been a teen going through training. And it hadn’t gotten any better when the woman had gotten into Overwatch because she had actually met her, been mothered by her, and had gotten attached. “Come on Rambo, let’s go fer a smoke. Commander Reyes thought you might need ta get some air. I think you need ta get out ah Morrison’s smell.” 

Madilyn cleared her throat and nodded. “You’re probably right. Lead the way Jesse. Getting away from Poster Boy is a good idea, and I could use a smoke.” She wiped her eyes, and took another look over at Fareeha, knowing that it was going to be hard. She had been there, done that. It wasn’t something she had ever wanted to experience again, and yet here she was caring all over again. “You’re also lying about Reyes thinking I need air. What’s going on?” She asked as she focused again, following Jesse out of the room, and towards the smoking area. 

“Can’t say here. Can ya wait till we get back in the Barracks?” He asked her, as he leaned against the railing that surrounded the smoking area. 

“Yeah, I can wait. I’m not going to like it am I?” She boosted her ass up onto the railing and lit her own smoke holding the lighter out to him. 

"No. Not likely." Muscles memory lit the cigar, tossing the lighter back to its owner. "It won't surprise ya none either-" The door behind them opened, the tear stained face of Fareeha peaking out. A barely contained sniffle echoing in the air.

“Jesse…” Her voice wavered, before she stepped out and ran over wrapping arms around the man. He wrapped arms back around her, handing his cigar off to Madilyn to hold onto for him. Fareeha was sobbing, holding onto Jesse tight. 

“Everythin’ sucks right now kid. But I promise ya, it’ll get better.” He drawled, running a hand up and down her back. His grey eyes looked over at Madilyn for help, and she gave a sad smile. 

“Fareeha, you’re stronger than you know. I know what you’re going through.” She said softly before light brown eyes blazed with anger at her. 

“How could you know what I’m going through? She wasn’t your mother.” Fareeha’s voice was angry, and was ruined by a crack in her voice.

Jesse raised an eyebrow when Madilyn shook her head. “I was twelve when the Omnic crisis hit. I lost my family, all of them. My parents, my brother. I was off at a school trip when the Omnic’s attacked the city I lived in. I’m not telling you this because I want you to feel sorry for me. But take a look, I turned out okay, and you will too. Take that sorrow, that anger at the world, and turn it into something your mother will be proud of.” The Blackwatch brawler brought her cigarette up to her lips, blowing smoke into the dark sky. 

“How...everything hurts…” Fareeha’s head rested against Jesse’s chest, and watched the red haired woman through her tears.

“I wish I could tell you it will stop hurting Fareeha, but it won’t. You just learn how to live with the pain. I won’t lie to you, I won’t coddle you. I’m not Angela, and I don’t have a lot of kindness left in me after everything I’ve gone through. But you will get through this Fareeha, that I can promise you. And if you EVER need someone to talk to, to spar with, I’m just a message away. I will make time for you, because it helps to have someone. I didn’t have anyone besides my sensei and I only saw him twice a week at MMA.” Madilyn was looking up at the sky, dark and dangerous, just like the emotions that were circling through Fareeha. 

The young Egyptian woman pulled her arms away from Jesse and moved over to Madilyn, hugging her as well. “Thank you Madilyn.” The Canadian smiled softly and wrapped her arms around Fareeha as Angela came through the door looking for Fareeha. 

“Jesse, Reyes is looking for both of you. Finish your smokes, and then go find him.” She relayed, taking Madilyn’s cigarette from her, and taking a soft inhale. Jesse took his cigar back, puffing on it slowly. 

“Fareeha, we’ll always be here for ya, no matter what. Just call us whenever you need us, and we’ll be there.” Jesse said to which Fareeha nodded. 

“Thank you, all of you.” She replied, letting Madilyn go, and moving back over to Angela who handed Madilyn’s cigarette back to her. The Blackwatch brawler finished off her cigarette, and sighed softly. 

Her hand reached out and ruffled Fareeha’s hair and she smiled. “Everything will be okay, I promise.”

As Jesse and Madilyn moved back into the building, he saw Angela hold Fareeha tight, the pair closer than Jesse had thought. He gave a sigh, scratching at his beard. “There’s ah storm comin’ Rambo. Are y’ready?”  
  
“I’ve been ready.”


	7. Rule Number One: Never Talk about SEP

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about the SEP program from Rambo's point of view, and find out Jack's got a few insiders.

The months following the funeral was busy. It was intense, and Blackwatch was kept busier than normal. With the amount of missions being thrown their way by Overwatch, Gabriel was out in the field just as much as everyone else. It was tiring and there seemed to be no end to the missions that they were sent on. Gabriel no longer even saw Jack at briefings. Instead he was constantly sent to talk to Lunella Martin, his new second in Command. As a replacement to Ana, Gabriel didn’t like her. And he knew more about her then she would likely be comfortable with. He had used his operative’s knowledge to get more information on the woman. 

There was tired, and then there was the bone weary, let me drop off and die tired. Gabriel and Jesse were quickly approaching the second kind of tired. And when he was in the Barracks, if the operatives were a little less...welcoming than normal, then Gabriel just put it down to everyone being so bone tired that they just wanted to be alone. Which was the case with him. 

Jesse however, was curious, even through his tiredness. How could the tight knit family he had come to love be shunning both him and Gabriel? That didn’t make any sense at all. And anyone Jesse tried to talk to immediately had somewhere else to be. Those expressive grey eyes were hurt, and narrowed. There was something going on. 

“Oi, cowboy. You owe me an explanation.” 

Jesse turned to face the woman who had called out to him. This was one woman who didn’t treat him any different. Madilyn, despite how tired she was, was just the same as she had been, one of his closest friends. But they were rarely sent on missions together, and in the past few months, had rarely been in the barracks at the same time. 

“You never gave me an explanation of what was going on after Amari’s funeral. We got...too busy for talking. Any time that could be spent talking should have been spent sleeping.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest and watching the cowboy. 

“Right...Reyes isn’t sure what’s going on, but we’ve got a solid idea. Come on back to my rooms, cause I know we won’t be overheard.” Madilyn’s eyebrows rose up to her hairline but she didn’t say anything. Instead she moved after him, and entered his room, which was messier then she had ever seen a room before. He moved over and kicked moved some of the clothes off the chair gesturing her to sit there while he flopped back onto his bed, which wasn’t made. 

“So I only found out about this cause I was chillin’ with Reyes and Amari, but they think that Jack might be crazy, and he might be trying to do something with Overwatch. We don’t know what, and we have no idea what’s going on with him because we no longer have access to Morrison.” 

Her lips pursed and she crossed her arms, leaning back in the chair. Her blue eyes watched him carefully, wondering if he was shitting her. But he looked completely serious. “So what you’re telling me is that you suspected that fucker of illicit activity and you didn’t do anything about it BEFORE Amari died?” Her lips pulled down into a frown. 

“Not mah call. Reyes and Amari didn' think it was at tha point tah be worried about yet. Though she did say that he was...a psychopath? Shit nah that’s not the right word...What’s the other one?”

“A sociopath?”

“Yeah that’s it! A sociopath. The one that’s made, not born.” Jesse replied as he leaned back and grinned at the ceiling, pleased to have gotten the right word.

“Jesse, that’s worse! That means he knows how to read people’s emotions and react to them appropriately. I’m not saying this just cause I hate the man, but damn it, he needs to be taken out before he does more damage than can be fixed.” Jesse immediately sat up and stared at her.

“What do ya mean?”

“Every soldier that underwent the SEP had to submit for an evaluation after the Omnic Crisis. Poster Boy, Reyes, hell even I had to take the damn thing. We all took a written evaluation, and then went through an interview with a psychiatrist. The woman I had specialized in psychosis. Which meant they were looking for those heavily affected by the Omnic Crisis, especially those who went through SEP. How much do you know about SEP Jesse?”

Jesse shifted back so that he was leaning back against the wall with his legs crossed. “Not much honestly. Reyes don’t answer questions about it, and yah can’t find too much on it anywhere else. I’ve been thinking about trying to get into a program for myself.”

Madilyn’s face went hard and she was nearly glaring at the cowboy. “No, you really don’t Jesse. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, and let me tell you why. You go through a series of 15 injections, spanned out over the 15 weeks of training you get to go with them. You had a month after that to make sure things were solid before they released you into the forces. Each person who applies and is accepted is assigned a nurse or field medic as their personal helper. That medic becomes your best friend because damn it, you go through so many different things. You have to relearn how to hold things without breaking them, how to shake people’s hands without breaking them. How to fight with all the new strength you have and how long you can fight for. I was assigned Haruhi Standford, more commonly known as Arrow. She currently Angela's second in command in Medical.  


“These injections turn you into a super soldier, with increased healing, strength. Muscle mass goes up, fat goes way down. You eat a shit ton more to maintain the required energy intake for the enhancements. You have to maintain the body, but not nearly as hard as normal people. Sex drive goes up, but mostly can be controlled through masturbation. That part works out nicely in the military because when you’ve got down time and can’t leave base, you either hang out in the rec room, sleep, or fuck. Your reaction times increase, vision is fucked up.” Here she paused and reached up, pulling one bright blue contacts out of her eyes, showing off the dull grey that her eyes actually were. 

Jesse recoiled slightly from that because the eye looked so out of place next to the blue ones he had become so accustomed to seeing. “Trust me, I freaked the fuck out when my blue eyes started going grey. I knew I wasn’t going blind because I could still see. But my eyes weren’t blue anymore. Turns out this happened to every soldier in the program. Reyes had brown contacts, Poster Boy has blue. We were all issued contacts the colour of our natural eyes colours.” She again paused as she put that contact back on her eye, blinking owlishly for a moment till the contact settled back over her eye. 

“Overall, there were very few negative physical side effects of the program. That is of course, assuming you make it through your mind screaming at you that it’s time to die because it can’t keep up with what’s happening to your body. And if you make it through that, you better damn hope you don’t have any latent mental issues, because that will be amplified, a thousand fold. I watched more than one operative have to be put down because internal aggression suddenly popped up and was made a million times worse. You can’t control that in the field. And the smallest thing could set them off. Something as small as a ringing telephone. And they put us through all sorts of mental exercises, making sure to expand our brains to keep up with the fact that our body and sense were delivering so much more information. Have you ever done sensory deprivation before Jesse?”

“Yeah once, years ago.” 

“We’d do that. Every day for hours. Blindfolds, noise cancelling headphones, restraints. Everything to expand our minds to better hold the information. Headaches, migraines. They were very common. Normal drugs wouldn’t touch them. We had to take Tylenol threes with codeine, and heaven forbid you were allergic to that medication, because then you were suffering with no relief. And that’s not counting the medic that you were assigned hitting you at random to help you reacclimatize with the feeling of bullet wounds grazing your skin. Some people never had the psychological issues, but because of hypersensitivity weren’t able to ever be released back into the field. Even their clothes were enough to send them into terrible anguish.” 

“Christ on a crutch… And how many of ya went through this?”

“Thousands applied. 85% of them were accepted. Only a thousand actually made it through. They shut down the program after the Omnic Crisis was over, and thank god for that. I wouldn’t wish that treatment on my worst enemy. I have never experienced pain like that ever, and I was nearly killed by a Bastion.”

Jesse brought his knees up, and rested his arms on them. “So if that’s what happened, then shouldn’t your mind be okay permanently? Like if Reyes was fine going into the Omnic Crisis, he’d be okay coming out the other side right?”

“Not always. Someone’s mind is actually the most fragile part of them. Break someone’s mind, and you will never be able to fix them. Even today we still don’t know enough about the human mind and how it works to properly determine what can change a mind. Which means that, even experiencing the exact same situations, two people could come out the other side with completely different reactions.” 

“So it’s completely possible that Reyes is NOT a sociopath, and Morrison is?”

“Completely. Also most logical. Reyes has this way about him, able to compartmentalize things. Only time you ever watch his control slip is when you surprise or hurt him. Like remember when I was fighting him when I got here. I cut a hole in his sweater and it was like he actually started to try? That was a control slip. He’s got all the SEP shit under lockdown and he keeps a tight hold on it.”

Jesse looked like he had more questions, but Madilyn’s expression told him that she wasn’t answering anymore on the SEP. She leaned back in the chair and tossed her feet up on his bed. “Alright Jesse. With that out of the way, we’ve got another problem. I know Blackwatch has been busy...but all the other operatives are avoiding you and Reyes. Any ideas?”

“None. Shall we go find out why?”

Perfectly white teeth showed in a grin as he watched her, a grin appearing on his face as well. “Any ideas where to start?” His voice rumbled out. 

“Oh a few. Got a couple scared squealers in Blackwatch. A mind is such a terrible thing to waste.”

The pair got up and moved off towards the recreation room, finding the man she had been referring to. Jesse and Madilyn bracketed him, and bodily walked him out of the recreation with a grin as they dragged him, worried and scared into an interrogation room. 

“What the hell Rambo? McCree? What the fuck is going on here!?”

Madilyn rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles. Muscles rippled under her Blackwatch issued t-shirt, and her lips pulled up into a sneer. Jesse immediately fell into the good guy role with her, giving the man an apologetic smile. “Well ya see here O’Connor, the Commander’s not happy. And when he’s not happy, we’re not happy. So we got some questions, and we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Jesse slid down into the seat across from O’Connor and leaned forward. “You can give us the answers we want, and we leave like this never happened. Or we can do this the hard way…” Madilyn’s fist slammed down onto the table, leaving a dent in the thick metal. “And she can get the answers we want that way, and you probably won’t have a face afterwards.” 

“I’m not telling you fuckers shit.” Jesse’s eyebrow winged up and he shook his head. “That’s too bad O’Connor. I was hopin' you’d do it mah way. Ya see, this is the same interrogation room that they held me in. Which means that there’s no recordin' software, and the only feed goes directly into the Commander’s office. And guess what? The Commander won’t come down to save ya cause he’s catchin' a few hours in his room.” 

The man’s eyes went wide, before he tore his gaze from Jesse and over to Madilyn. “I’m still not telling you shit. You both can go to hell.” His gaze didn’t stay on her long before his face was slammed off the table, blood starting to flow from his broken nose. Eyes watered, and he brought his hands up to try and stem the flow of blood from his nose. “For fuck’s sake!”

“Tell me why the fuck everyone’s avoiding Reyes and McCree O’Connor! I will keep breaking bones till you tell me what the fuck you know.” 

“Go to hell bitch.”

Madilyn glanced at McCree with a shrug as she smashed her fist into the man’s body, over and over. She changed where she was hitting him every so often, always going back to his stomach. This went on for nearly fifteen minutes, but to O’Connor it felt much longer. After all, a SEP soldier like Madilyn was a terrible experience to take a beating from. People usually avoided sparring with her, unless they were SEP themselves. The man’s Blackwatch training stayed strong, but one final punch from her in his abdomen was enough to send him into talking. “Alright alright I’ll talk. I’ll talk.” He groaned in pain, curling around his stomach since he was sure there was obnoxious amounts of internal bleeding.

“Good. Now why are ya avoiding me and Reyes?” Jessed asked as he leaned forward, putting his phone away and giving him his undivided attention. 

“We got word that Reyes was saying he didn’t want to be disturbed for the next while. And the longer it went on, the more we believed it. He never came to hang out in the rec room since Amari’s funeral, and it just seems more and more he doesn’t care for us.”

“Who told you that?” 

“Zeke Wachter.” 

Madilyn wracked her brain for that name. She had been keeping careful watch over those who had had contacts with Poster Boy. The name sounded familiar and it clicked when she put together. “Wait...Ain’t that one of Poster Boy’s little snitches?”

“I think so.” Jesse replied as he put his hat back on his head.

“Alright O’Connor get your ass to medical. Don’t talk to Wachter. We’re going to get him.” Madilyn ordered and the man staggered to his feet, weaving as he left the room. Before Jesse and Madilyn could turn to leave the room they were met face to face with Gabriel Reyes, and he did not look happy with them.

“What the fuck do you two think you’re doing?”

Jesse looked ready to piss himself, even after all these years of working with Gabriel. Madilyn stepped up and moved slightly in front of Jesse, her eyes staring at Gabriel’s. “We’re finding out that Morrison’s got people in our division. And they’re spreading falsities about you and your orders.” She replied as she stood her ground. 

“And you didn’t think to come to me about it?” He asked, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised as he sent her a disappointed look.

“With all due respect Commander, you’ve been so exhausted lately, I was hoping to fix this with Jesse’s help before you became aware of it. That kind of disloyalty can get you or any of us killed in the field. There must be complete and utter loyalty for you in this division. Any splitting of loyalties would be lethal.”

Gabriel kept staring her down till she squirmed. “You’re not wrong. However, next time, come to me first. Now what do you know?”

“Honestly not much. Just the name of one of Morrison’s snitches. I can’t imagine he’s got more than one or two in our division.” Jesse replied as he saw Gabriel relaxing.  
  
“Get him in here. It’s time we had a little talk.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey loves. 
> 
> Just to let you know, Posterboy will miss a week for updating because my mother will be here this weekend, and I'd like to give myself a small break. (this fic actually takes a lot of out me to write because it's so heavy on psychological issues)


	8. Smooth talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blackwatch is back to being Blackwatch, and a hacker gets a crazy idea.

Instead of taking their time, they just went straight to the hard way with Zeke. There was no mercy as Gabriel stood off in the corner watching his two operatives interrogate the man. They got all the information they needed, what Morrison was giving him, and the extras that he had been receiving from the man. Towards the end, the man even gave up the only other operative in Blackwatch that was in Morrison’s pocket. 

Madilyn went out to get that woman and dragged her in by her hair. There was no niceties to be had here. Jesse was brutal, but Madilyn was lethal. Everything she did was designed to injure, maim, and destroy. The pair were beat until they were unconscious, but even in the end they didn’t renounce their loyalty to Morrison. For that, all three of them were impressed, if disgusted. Gabriel stepped forward, and gave them that sweet kiss of death, his guns smoking softly. 

“Call everyone to the Rec room. It’s time for a full squad meeting. We’re nearly all here, those that are out, I’m not worried about where their loyalties lie.” Gabriel said, finally believing Ana after all those times they had hashed out and talked about whether or not Jack was a sociopath. Jesse and Madilyn nodded, and moved off towards all the other operatives, calling for them to meet up in the rec room in twenty minutes. 

Once everyone was there, Gabriel got up on the bar, with Jesse and Madilyn standing just below him. The Commander waited for complete silence which didn’t take long to happen. Everyone wanted to know why they were being dragged out of what little rest they were getting. Gabriel took a moment and looked over the crew of people that looked up to him, followed him, and trusted him. Everyone one of them, he knew them all. Everytime he had to bring one back into existence because they died tore at his heart, but didn’t change who he was. He didn’t stop caring about the people under his command, because they were his. And every last one of them were loyal to him without question. 

“It has come to my attention that there have been orders from me going around that I was not to be disturbed and you were not to talk to Jesse. These orders were false. They were given by Jackson Morrison and spread about like my words by two of his snitches. Those two have been...permanently transferred out of Blackwatch.”

A ripple of sound left the crowd as they realized that they had all been taken for suckers. They were angry and irritated. “Thanks to Jesse and Madilyn we discovered what was going on. From now on if you do not hear the orders directly from my lips or the mouths of these two, do not follow them. If there are issues, you come find Madilyn, Jesse or myself. We will handle it.” 

There was another mummer and the a voice spoke up from a platinum blonde operative. “So what are we doing about Morrison then? He can’t be allowed to try and turn divisions against their commanders.” To this Gabriel looked at the man. It was Lassiter, the man that Jesse had sent over to him at the funeral so that Gabriel hadn’t been alone. 

“You’re right. We won’t stand for this. But we can’t do this stupidly either. We’ve got a plan, but it’s going to take time to put into place. Everyone here will have a role. We’re the most dangerous that Overwatch has to offer. Jack has his SEP soldiers...but we have our own. There’s about 15 of the SEP soldiers in these barracks, and even those that aren’t SEP are still some of the fiercest fighters I’ve ever seen. You will be reassigned based on your qualifications. Techs, you NEED to sweep EVERY SINGLE ROOM in the barracks. If there’s bugs, I want to know about them. And I want them gone. We have a few op rooms, and we’re going to turn one of them into the ops room for this.” Gabriel looked over those that were there. 

He trusted every single one of them. Every single one of them would take a bullet for him. “From this day forward, there is a no entry on Morrison or his Second in Command, Lunella Martin. Under no circumstances is the ops room to be shown to anyone not part of Blackwatch. This is a delicate operation, and even the smallest of mistakes can break it. We are going to take back Overwatch, and stop him.” Those words were met with cheers, and he glanced down at the two he had made his seconds. They looked up at him and nod. They’d follow him into hell. Both of them had done it on the field more than once already, they would do it again.

The pair helped him down, and the rest of Blackwatch moved forward, all talking over each other. Once they got Gabriel to where he could sit comfortably, Jesse and Madilyn grabbed a few of the other operatives and went to set up the ops center. They wouldn’t put any information up, they just set up the room. The tech guys had started their sweeps in the rec room, and Madilyn commandeered one of them for the ops room so that they could start getting well and truly set up. 

Months later, everything was set up. There was a no entry order on Morrison, not that he ever visited anyway, and unless they were accompanied by a Blackwatch operative with the proper clearance, no one else could get in either. A few bugs were found in the barracks, but not many. All were removed. Madilyn and Jesse were sitting across from Gabriel receiving their mission briefing, and everything seemed fine. A covert two person mission, get in, get the information, get out. Simple. No additional armor, plain clothes, covert.

However, things never went as planned. During the mission, they were discovered, and forced to run. “How tha fuck did we get found?” 

“I don’t know Jesse but if you don’t move your bacon we’re not gonna make the safe house before those fuckers catch up to us.” She huffed, grabbing his shirt front and throwing him over the fence. Her hands grabbed a hold of the fence and followed him over, leaving dents in the metal because she wasn’t concerned with the damage she was leaving behind. “MOVE JESSE!” 

He scrambled up to his feet, and ran with her, holding onto his hat. “I’m movin’, I’m movin’!” He growled back to her. They managed to temporarily lose the people following them, but were soon face to face with a black van. The panel door slid open, and there was a young woman, latino by her features, gesturing for them to get in the van. Madilyn’s hand reached out and grabbed Jesse’s shirt, pausing for a moment, the pair breathing hard. A sound over their shoulders said that those who were chasing them weren’t giving up. 

“Come on Rambo, McCree, you don’t you have time to think get in here!” The r’s rolled like an appropriate spanish woman and Madilyn gave another glance over her shoulder as their pursuers made it over the fence.

Jesse glanced at her, and started to pull her after him. “It’s death, or potential life. Come on Rambo we can’t debate this too long.” She was easier to move without the suit on, and he thanked his lucky stars they hadn’t been going in with the intention of fighting anyone. She would have been impossible to move. Madilyn was loathe to trust someone who knew her name without her knowing them, but between who was chasing them and the van. Her foot hit the side of the van and they climbed in, the door shutting behind them, and speeding off. 

Immediately the Latino woman had a knife to her cheek, held against the side of the van by the very pissed of SEP soldier. “Who are you and how do you know who we are?” She snarled.

The woman’s eyes were bugging out with the force that Madilyn was holding on her neck, hands viced around her wrist, digging in nails the soldier’s wrist, and struggling to breathe. The noises she made her strangled and harsh. “Rambo! Let her go! She can’t answer yah if her vocal chords are broken!” Her hands shook as she tried to pull back before her face was turned so that her blue eyes met Jesse’s grey ones. “Yer a good soldier, but yah need to let her go. If yah don’t let her go, she will not be able tah answer our questions.” Those phrases weren’t working, Madilyn wasn’t letting go; too far into her own head and anger, and Jesse pulled himself up to his full height, as much as kneeling in the van was allowing him. 

“RAMBO LET HER GO THIS INSTANT!” He roared. He was in Commander mode, something he didn’t use often, since it was more reserved for Reyes. Her hands immediately let go of the woman’s neck and pulled back, causing cuts to appear on Madilyn’s wrist. The woman collapsed and panted softly, hands massaging her throat. “SIT DOWN AND GET YERSELF UNDER CONTROL!” Madilyn’s body snapped back and she sat down against the van wall staring forward without saying a word. In that moment, Jesse became her anchor, and one of the few people that could break her out of her headspace.

Jesse knelt next to the woman and gently rubbed her back. A coughing fit started and she waved Jesse back. “I’m...fine…” 

“Well darlin’ yah’ve got us at a severe disadvantage with yer knowledge of our names. Who are ya?” 

Another coughing fit, and she sat back, breathing hard. The driver glanced back at them, to check to make sure everything was okay for the most part, but kept driving. “My name, it’s not important. What’s important is that I have the information you want.” 

Madilyn’s hands viced into fists and Jesse glanced at her sharply. “Now see here lady, yer gonna have to tell me wat yer name is, or I’m gonna have ta let mah soldier here kick the shit outta ya, and I don’t think ya wanna have that happen.” Frustration was causing Jesse’s accent to come in strong, and the latino woman glanced at Madilyn again, before heaving a small sigh, which started her coughing again. 

“My name isn’t important because you won’t find anything on me anywhere. I’m a hacker  _ amigo _ , and I’ve deleted myself off everything. But you can call me...Sombra.” 

“Sombra? The hacker that works with Los Muertos?” Madilyn asked, blue eyes raising up to look at the woman.

Sombra knelt, spread her arms and bowed to them. “The one and only. Now, to give you the information you want, you’re going to have to do something for me.” However her hands immediately came around in front of her, holding them out as if to keep Madilyn at bay. “Just let me talk. There’s a few encrypted files in Overwatch, actually more than a few, that I need access to. There’s a global conspiracy, and I need to take it down. It will reveal everyone’s personal information, nothing will be hidden anymore. It will topple the governments of the world, including the good ones, like Switzerland or Canada. We can’t allow that to happen, and I know that Overwatch has those files.” 

“And what does that have anythin’ tah do wit us?”

“You both can get me in there.” 

“That’s a big favour for that information. And we don’t have the authorization to give it to you.” Madilyn was relaxed, knees up raised, knife away. 

“I know. But you can take me to the man who can give me that authorization. A certain Gabriel Reyes...a man who by all rights doesn’t exist anymore then you two do anymore.” Sombra smirked at the pair, and Madilyn glanced at Jesse. Gabriel was probably going to kill them...but if they could persuade Sombra to help them more than just what she wanted, then perhaps things would go easier to take down Morrison…

“Yah got yerself a deal. We’ll take yah to see Reyes. But it’s his decision, not ours.” Jesse said, holding his hand out to her to shake. 

“I’m glad you saw it my way.”


	9. The Deal and the Years that Follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a transition chapter. A few points are talked about, but spans approximately 3 years. We're approaching the end.

When they got to the extraction point, Madilyn hauled herself up before extending a hand down to Sombra who gladly accepted the assist as Jesse hopped up next to them. Sombra’s driver tossed her bags up to them and then took off as the drop ship lifted off. Madilyn pointed her finger at a seat for Sombra to sit down and moved up chat with the pilot.

Jesse sat down next to Sombra and smiled at her a small bit. “She's a good person you know... just has a really hard time trusting people.”

“I figured as much from her file. She's not the easiest to know... her triggers are unknown unlike some other SEP soldiers. You've got one in your ranks, Loretta codename Monster. Her triggers are simple: hurt her and she'll unleash hell. But Rambo she's rather control isn’t she?” 

“Most times, yes you should have seen her when she got to Blackwatch. She actually went toe-to-toe with Reyes. Cut his sweater with the switchblade she keeps in her pocket.” 

Sombra looked over at Jesse with a surprised expression that was quickly covered up, with disbelief. “Really she cut his sweater?” As if something that small could enrage Reyes.

“If it had been anyone else, honestly she would have hurt them severely. Her main trigger is Morrison.” 

Now Sombra was well and truly looking over at Jesse with wide eyes and surprise. “The Strike Commander is her trigger?” 

“You read her file but there's more to every operative than what's in their files. Only tells you what they've done, not what they've experienced, what they felt. She compartmentalizes as well as Reyes does, which makes her dangerous. She won't go batshit crazy because of what she seen. It's actually kind of amazing to be frank.” 

“But what did he do to make himself her trigger?” 

“He transferred her to Blackwatch and corrupted her two best friends against her.”

Sombra looked like she was about to question how someone could turn their friends against another, but was interrupted.

“Posterboy is highly charismatic and very trustworthy and appearance you have to be blind not to trust him on sight.” Madilyn said as she came back over. “But he's a fucking snake in the grass. Tempts you in with what you want, promises all sorts of things to get your cooperation. Honestly if the exact situation that happened to me never did, I probably would still be blind to it. Not because I'm stupid but because this fucker’s good.” 

Sombra nodded her head slowly. “Right well, I hope I can get what I need and get out, because he sounds like a real piece of work.”

“He is but he'll slip up sooner or later. He's still human.” Madilyn said before she settled into nap while they returned to the Blackwatch barracks. Once they landed there was an armed Squad waiting for them. Madilyn walked out first catching Gabriel's eyes and jerking her head back to the dropship where Jesse was escorting Sombra in a pair of handcuffs. They move down to the interrogation room and one once they were in there Gabriel walked in, Madilyn in tow. 

“Rambo tells me you rescued them when their mission went South.” 

“Yes. It was mutually beneficial for us all that I did.” 

“What do you want what from us exactly?”

“Access to the files here. You understand that it is actually rather difficult to obtain information needed when the only copy of it is a hard copy?” she asked him showing the same nonchalant stance sitting Jesse had years before. 

“I do understand that, however I need something in return.” 

“You name it, I'll talk.” Her face turned sultry and she changed the way she was sitting leaving no qualms about the next statement she made with her gaze centered on Gabriel. “Can't imagine you get too many Latinos here. Craving a little taste of home Reyes?” Everyone in the room look at her with varying expressions of shock on their faces, and Gabriel burst out laughing. 

“Sombra, if that's even your name, I would break you if I had sex with you. I would need someone like her,” Here he paused, gesturing to Madilyn. “Who is SEP just like I am to get proper relief, Latino or not. No what I need from you is your cooperation. If what you are a good as you say you are, we’ll need someone like you for the operation.”

“What are you trying to do?” 

“Take down Jack Morrison.”

Sombra stared at them and really considered if this global conspiracy was worth getting caught in the middle of this power struggle. But the other side of the coin was, they knew about her now. They knew she had information on them, and the organization that didn’t technically exist. 

Purple eyes stared back at Gabriel, flickered to Jesse and Madilyn. “If I help you, you will be able to keep me safe right?” she asked, leaning forward on the table her joking manner gone. She was completely serious now and was willing to talk a deal out. 

Gabriel leaned towards her as well and nodded. “We can protect you. Just don’t fuck with us. If you fuck with us, we will kill you. Do you understand? We don’t have a lot of time to be fucking around with bullshit. Morrison is a problem. You help us take him out, and all those files you want to look at are all yours. But not a moment before.” 

Sombra grinned at him and held her hand out. “Deal. You can either give me access to the computers or I’ll hack my way in.” 

“Give me a few days. For now use Jesse’s credentials to access the computers. You’re looking for anything on Morrison. Anything and everything.”

Months rolled by, Blackwatch’s ranks getting more and more tightknit. The numbers grew slowly, unstable SEP soldiers being sent to them, Jack’s hopes that they would snap and take out Reyes never coming to fruition as Madilyn was always prepared for them. 

A mission went out that Gabriel led, Jesse out on another mission, Madilyn left behind to keep things running smoothly. She had been beating the tune of “The mission over the group” because sometimes they didn’t have the luxury of no casualties, but when Gabriel’s group returned without him, and Lassiter told her that they had lost connection and where Reyes was, she had punched him square in the face, breath heaving. She had railed at him for leaving Reyes behind, because they needed him, he was the cornerstone of the operation, the organization. 

Loretta stepped up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “You can’t pick and choose who’s valuable and who isn’t Rambo. He’s not dead, or Morrison would already be here to replace him. Hold off on filing the MIA report for a week. Give him time to get home.” Madilyn had closed herself in Reyes’ office after that, watching the security screens like a hawk, getting a grand total of four hours of sleep over 6 long days. 

On the day she would have to file the MIA report, she saw Reyes limping his way into the base. Relief so strong flooded her and she ran down to him, Blackwatch sleeping soundly at 4 am. In her sleep deprived state she forgot proper protocol and just wrapped her arms around him in a hug to tell herself she wasn’t imagining things. It took days for Reyes to get back into being able to interact with people and the only two he allowed near him during that time was Madilyn and Jesse. 

A year after Sombra started helping them, she brought forward some information that confirmed one of Gabriel’s suspicions. “Morrison ordered the hit on Amari. He called Talon and paid them to kill her.” The more Sombra dug into the man, the more dirt they found, until they uncovered the entire web of lies and plots Jack had woven around himself. 

Every meeting they had, they included Angela, who despite her struggle to stay awake, attended every meeting in person. They pulled in Reinhardt and the Crusaders, as well as Fareeha and the Raporta unit. Gabriel hadn’t wanted either, because that meant putting more people in harms way. But his seconds convinced him otherwise at getting the two units involved, because they needed the numbers, and those two were a good solid base to add to their force. 

  
And while this happened Jack wasn’t idle. He kept track of Blackwatch and who they brought in. He continued to send Blackwatch on missions that would get Gabriel killed. He never succeeded, but he tried. Started to spend more money, but somehow they were always one step ahead of him. And while he tried to distract Gabriel with that, he was slowly removing UN control over Overwatch, making Overwatch an independent entity with one final piece of legislature. 


	10. The beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One Chapter left. 
> 
> The battle begins. We're approaching the end.

The world outside of Overwatch was prospering for the most part, recovering from the Omnic Crisis rather well in the ten years that Overwatch had existed. The dawn of the day that would break Overwatch from the UN was bright, and cold. Jack looked out over the expanse of all the base in Zurich from his office. He felt relaxed, at ease. No matter what happened today, he had done most of what he had wanted to do. Overwatch was his, Gabriel was a non factor, and he had a very loyal band of men and women behind him. Ana was no longer a problem seeing as she was dead, and Angela was too exhausted with her work to interfere.

Jack cackled softly, sitting down in his chair as he continued to watch the sunrise. Today would be a good day. 

A soft swish as his second let herself into the room and Jack turned around to face her. “Good Morning Lunella.”

“Good morning Jack. Everything is ready for the ceremony this morning.”

“My security detail?” 

“Hand picked and ready to go. Would you like your side arm anyway?” she asked, holding a clipboard in her arms. 

“Yes. And store my Pulse Rifle in my office for today. I don’t expect trouble but I would rather be prepared for anything.” he replied leaning back in his chair. “We’re doing good work Lunella. It’s just unfortunate that Gabriel’s been so busy with Blackwatch.” 

She nodded and smiled at him, wishing for the first time in years that Madilyn was still in Strike. The starchild missed her friend, but looking at Jack, thoughts of her were pushed away. Rambo was a danger to everyone and was where she belonged. 

* * *

In the bowels of Blackwatch, Gabriel was briefing his division one last time. Everyone was packing into the operation room, and Gabriel was standing up on a chair, looking over everyone while he talked, telling them the importance of today and that while he hoped this would end without bloodshed, he doubted that it would be the case. Everyone stood up at attention and saluted Gabriel smartly. 

“We’ve followed you into hellish landscapes and situations before Commander. We’ll follow you into this one. It would be our honour to die today in your service. _Semper fidelius_.” Loretta said as she bowed to Gabriel as well. The rest of the division followed suit and Gabriel felt moisture welling in his eyes. This was his family...How many would he have to bury and say goodbye to today? 

“Alright enough of that. Our medics will be few so try to watch out for each other. The crusaders are backing us, as well as the Raptora unit. I didn’t want to involve Reinhardt or Fareeha but they both have personal grudges against Morrison. Soldiers, no matter what happens today, I am proud of you. I will never not be proud of you. You have 3 hours to get everything you need. Dismissed.”

Everyone filed out except for Jesse and Madilyn. The trio sat down and reviewed the plan one last time. “I owe you both an apology for dragging you into this.” Gabriel said before catching Madilyn’s fist in his hand. 

“Don’t apologize for him. You’re going to piss me off if you do that.” she growled at him, and Jesse laid his hand on Gabriel’s upper arm. 

“Hafta agree with her. Don’t apologize for Morrison. Don’t apologize for anyone. This is all the UN’s fault for not keeping you where you could handle him.” Jesse smiled at Gabriel. “Like they said. We’ll follow you into hell and back. We trust you, impeccably.”

Gabriel pulled both of them in, hugging them tight and just leaning for a second. “My cowboy and my murder princess. You’ve both been so helpful to me… Just remember no matter what happens today, you both could run Overwatch blindfolded.” He said softly as they hugged him back. 

“I’m not a betting woman Commander, but I’m going all in on my faith in you. You’ll see the end of this fight. You’re too tough not to.” Madilyn said just as softly, hugging him back. 

“We ain’t running shite without you Gabe.” 

Gabriel didn’t bother to correct him because of things went the way that Gabriel figured they were, he wasn’t getting out alive. 

* * *

The ceremony was well underway and Jack was getting up to give his address, thanking the UN for all their support over all those years they had worked side by side. However halfway through his lengthy address his mic cut out and instead his request to kill Ana Amari filtered through the speakers. Jack looked around like this was some sick joke, but all the calls he had made to get important officials that had stood in his way taken out started to play. 

Gabriel walked up in his Blackwatch armor and his entire division around him, Jesse to his right and Madilyn to his left. Officially she was still bottom of the pile in Blackwatch, but Gabriel had done that on purpose to keep her out of Morrison’s radar so she could continue to work her brand of magic on the division. 

The audio cut out and as they approached, armed and lethal, Jack’s security detail closed in around him. “Well Gabriel leading a rebellion?” 

“Stopping a madman from ruining the good work Overwatch has completed these past few years.” A shot rang out but it was stopped just shy of Gabriel’s chest by a field of barrier. Madilyn’s hand was held out, her suit’s hand flexing as the bullet fell. 

“Surrounded yourself with degenerates and those that nobody wanted Gabriel.”

Gabriel glanced around him and smirked. “Degenerates they may be, but I want them. They’re my family. This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed Jack. We can resolve this peacefully.” 

“Not a chance. STRIKE! YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS. KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THESE TRAITORS.” Jack hollered before he turned to head to his office and where he had his back up plan already to send out, revealing Blackwatch to the world. 

Madilyn turned her helmet towards Gabriel and nodded. “Go. We’ll handle things down here. Posterboy’s era has come to an end.” she said before Gabriel faded out and wraithed to another location to chase after Jack. Madilyn threw her hand out and her psionics up to shield her and Jesse. “Run cowboy. Talk sense where you can, subdue where you can’t talk sense. Kill only if absolutely necessary.” 

Madilyn watched Jesse combat roll away and stood up to her full 5’8” height. Her comm link switched to all of Blackwatch, medical, The Crusaders, and Raptora. “They are shooting to kill. Talk them down where you can, subdue where you can’t. Kill only as a last resort. Try not to set off the Strike SEP soldiers. I want to avoid kill orders on them as much as possible. You know the plan. Get the dignitaries out of here.” Madilyn took off to a resounding chorus of “Yes Rambo!” before she got in close and started to brawl. 

“Riveting speech Rambo. How come you’re not a Commander,  _ Princesa Asesina? _ ” Sombra voice floated through her comm unit as she dueled with the SEP soldier in front of her. 

“You better not have hacked my suit Sombra.” She snarled back as the comm unit was set to be just between them. 

“Contrary to what I always say, not everything can be hacked. Beauty about your suit though, because its movements are linked directly to you, I’d have to hack you to do anything to the suit. And you don’t actually have any electronic implants for me to hack. I checked.” 

“Good to know.”

“You didn’t answer my question though. Why aren’t you a Commander?” 

Madilyn cuffed the SEP Soldier and moved her hands to the side throwing a group of soldiers back as they aimed for her. “Because I don’t trust myself with something as important as people’s lives. It happened once and I chose the mission over 13 good Soldiers. No one got out alive but me.” 

Sombra started to state the fact that all of Blackwatch followed her orders right now, but chose better of it. It wouldn’t do to throw one Gabriel’s second in Commands for a loop with a little logic. “Keep up the good work  _ Princesa Asesina. _ Stay safe.” the latina signed off the comms and returned to keeping the media blacked out of what was going on. 

* * *

Life crackled in her comm connected to her helmet. **_For fucks sake...Rambo we need you here. This fucking medic won’t go down, and we don’t want to shoot her…_** Lassiter’s voice was irritated and Rambo rolled her eyes before replying. 

**_How can one fucking medic be giving you fuckers trouble? It’s a fucking medic.Yeah yeah I’m on my way. Give me your location. Who is it?_ **

**_Arrow._ ** Was the reply and Rambo’s eyes narrowed before she cursed long and loud. All around them the fight was raging, friends fighting friends, brother against sister. It disgusted her, and she knew that there was nothing to be done about it. Posterboy had finally got his wish, but they were going to be damned if he was going to succeed. She had thrown her faith behind Reyes, and damn it, she would follow that man into hell and back...And she already had more than once. He would see them home, just like he always did.

Her feet pounded on the ground in the suit of lightweight but durable armor she wore. It wasn’t impenetrable, but damn it packed a punch when she was fighting with it. Blue eyes cast all over her read outs, and found the fastest way to the location that Lassiter had given her. Once she arrived, she saw her former medic standing there, in a deadlock with Lassiter both of them with their guns drawn. The armored brawler moved forward and stood in front of Lassiter, hands reaching up and pulling off her helmet, handing it to the man behind her. 

“No, stop. Don’t come any closer to me Rambo. I swear to god I will kill you.” 

Rambo scoffed softly. “I doubt that. You can’t pull the trigger on me.” The brawler ran her tongue over her teeth, looking at her friend derisively. “We used to be friends. The best of friends. But then you met Posterboy, and you turned your back on me, because I wasn’t Strike anymore. Because I was Blackwatch. You won’t shoot me, anymore then I could kill you.” Her hands balled into fists, and she smirked. “However, it’s high time someone beat some sense into you.” 

Words became a thing of the past as the brawler dashed at the medic, who dropped her gun back to it’s holster and started to fight back. Blows were traded and blocked, over and over. No ground was given, till Rambo managed to put her MMA training to good use, and grab a hold of Arrow, shaking her hard to get her to listen. Every time Arrow tried to open her mouth, Rambo slapped her, till she was finished. 

And so Rambo started to tell her everything. From how Jack started to manipulate everyone around him, how he got his hands into as many divisions as he could, how he used Blackwatch to kill off important people. Rambo laid the blame for Ana Amari’s death at Arrow’s feet, and she wasn’t wrong. Blackwatch had been doing so much research, working with a few...illicit hackers. Finally after having told Arrow of the last years, she let her go.

Those blue eyes had watched brown ones go from confrontational, to disbelief, to regret, and sorrow. “I could forgive you for following that man blindly. His perfect face, blonde hair, blue eyes. They’re hard to not believe. But I can’t forgive you for getting the best woman this organization ever saw killed. I will never forget that, nor will I ever forgive you. But you HAVE TO REALIZE THAT POSTERBOY IS LEADING YOU DOWN A PATH THAT YOU CAN’T FUCKING COME BACK FROM. What’s happening RIGHT NOW will be NOTHING. This will be a good day if that fuck has complete control over Overwatch.” 

For a moment, Rambo thought Arrow was going to reach for her side arm again, but instead picked up her Caduceus staff, and held it in her hands. “I...I didn’t know my telling Jack those things would result in the way they did. You may not forgive me, but for now...will you trust me?”   
  
Rambo stepped back from her. A nod from her red violet head sent her hair into her face. Sweeping that back, she holds her hand out to Lassiter for her helmet back. Once it was back in her hands and back on, she turned her back to Arrow and moved off with the medic trailing behind her, while the rest of the Blackwatch crew that was with her moved off to help other operatives. They had to find Jack’s Second in Command and make sure she didn’t do anything stupid to interfere with Reyes and Morrison fighting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation: 
> 
> Semper Fidelius - Always Faithful  
> Princesa Asesina - Murder Princess


	11. You don't get to decide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faced with a large and important decision, Madilyn holds his life in her hands. Does she let him go, or does she save him?

Gabriel ran after Jack leading up to his office. As soon as he was in the room, thanks to Sombra’s hacking to clear the door, the Blackwatch Commander stared at his best friend. Or at least the monster his best friend had become. “Jack, call off Strike. We can still stop this without further problems.” 

Jack was standing behind his desk unit, hand poised over the send button. His pulse rifle was on his desk, and his left hand hovered over it. “Do you know what I had to do for this position? Did you know they had kill orders on us? The first batch of SEP soldiers. You signed off on mine Gabriel… we were friends. How could you do that to me? Amari I could understand, she wasn’t close to me and had her daughter to protect. But you….you were the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother. And you signed off on my kill order….” Jack looked about ready to cry and Gabriel felt for him, just a little bit. 

But this man had ordered the deaths of countless people. Gabriel couldn’t afford the sympathy he knew Jack wanted him to give. The mercy Jack wanted Gabriel to relent to. 

“Look at yourself Jack!! You signed kill orders of your own! You don’t even trust me to have a civilized conversation with you because your hand is over that rifle prepared to try and shoot me!” 

_ Jefe, that file he’s about to send has all of Blackwatch’s dossiers in it. It details everything. I’m trying to corrupt it but you need to keep that hijo de puta talking. If he sends it out, everything Blackwatch has ever done will be public knowledge. He even has statements written up for media outlets.  _

Sombra’s voice was hurried amongst the clack of her nails against the keyboard. 

“Can you blame me? You conspired with Amari to kill me!” 

“To keep an eye on you Jack! We didn’t want this to happen. This exact situation.” Gabriel tried to plead sense into Jack, but he was beyond that now. Jack hit the send button with a laugh. 

“Do you know what it’s been like, having their eyes on me all the time? To be perfect, to have no control? Who lives, who dies? You don’t have any idea what it’s been like in the public eye. All the time, with no breaks. I molded Overwatch into something functionable. So what if I had to kill people in my way? Why is their life more important than the lives of thousands?”

Gabriel couldn’t find fault with that logic. He really couldn’t. The lives of a few over the lives of many. It was an age old military stance. “That doesn’t make what you did right Jack. There were no orders, no securance that the orders came from someone higher, that we could trust them to take the blame. Jack this was all on you. All of it.”

“Oh I know that Gabriel. And now the whole world will know what you’ve done. Every major media outlet in the world has a copy of that information now. All your reports, missions, operatives. Where do you think you’re going to be able to hide now?” 

“I never wanted to hide Jack. You and the UN made Blackwatch the secret service, not me.”

“If I can’t have Overwatch, then no one can. I will destroy it from the inside out before I let you get your hands on it.” Jack snarled back as he grabbed up his rifle and started to fire. Gabriel dove out of the way and came up with his own weapons fighting. Evenly matched as always it didn’t take long for the office to be in shambles, and in the distance Gabriel heard explosions going off. 

Jack laughed as he watched Gabriel look in the direction of the explosions. “Oh yes Gabe. I’ve set the base to explode. There will be no evidence when I’m done.”

“Jack there are civilians here!!!” Gabriel was actually appalled by Jack’s lack of concern for human life. 

_ Don’t worry jefe we’re working on it. The Crusaders and Raptora have been reassigned to finding and saving civilians. We’re also working on clearing the building out before more go off. Your Princesa Asesina is doing a good job keeping casualties to a minimum. Take him down.  _ Sombra’s voice was a welcome distraction in his ear and he dove at Jack, both of them slamming against the glass, fists flying and trying to get the upper hand on each other. 

Neither succeeded and both were wary about the other’s back up showing up before their own. Another explosion rocked the building where they fought and both were staggered. This was dragging on much longer then it should...innocent people were going to die. 

* * *

A familiar thudding of feet sounded off to McCree’s left and the cowboy turned to look at the armored person coming towards him and Astro, whom he had a hold of right now to prevent her from trying to shoot him. They were arguing over loyalties and who deserved what allegiance. The helmet was pulled off, and revealed a rather familiar Blackwatch member to his grey eyes. Sighing in relief, he gives her a strained smile. “She won’t listen ta me. Ya used ta be friends with her, talk some sense inta her.” 

From behind Madilyn stepped Haruhi, and Madilyn was staring at Astro. This was going to be a difficult one because she had been made Jack’s new second after he had killed off Amari. But she knew that she had to try. And so she started to talk, telling her everything they had found out, with irrefutable evidence. However, the story devolved into an argument, both of the shouting at each other. McCree tried to help where he could, but he couldn’t add more to this then what Madilyn already was. There was an explosion above them, and the building shook, the ceiling starting to crack and crumble. McCree glanced up and as the stone started to fall, he whipped Astro out of the way, unable to get out of the way himself. 

“FUCKING...JESSE!” Madilyn said as she turned and grabbed Arrow covering her body with her own. Once the dust started to settle a little, she ran over, and started to throw rubble out of the way, using her suit to help move some of the heavier ones. She found Jesse buried underneath it all, and not in good shape. His left arm was crushed, anything below the elbow unsalvageable. “You fucking idiot cowboy. Always trying to be a damn hero. ARROW NEED YOU OVER HERE.” She called out as she kept clearing things off Jesse’s body. He was breathing, but not conscious and she was kneeling next to him. As Arrow got to work, Madilyn heard the click of a gun being cocked, and felt that barrel pressed to the back of her head. Her eyes glanced to the side, seeing her helmet too far to reach, and she didn’t have a gun to fight back with. 

“Jack was right. You’re all a bunch of filthy murderers. How could we even think you could be controlled? You’re just as bad as the animal you call your Commander.” Astro’s voice shook with unshed tears, and Madilyn froze. She had a chance, just a small one. Those were Jack’s words, not hers, and Madilyn had to push her to realize it.

“Look you don’t have to take me at my word Astro, but look around you. Look at all this destruction. We were about to become the world’s leading Mercenary group, not a peace keeping organization. That wasn’t on Commander Reyes, it wasn’t on me, or Jesse, or Ziegler. It certainly wasn’t Captain Amari’s fault. THIS WAS ALL POSTERBOY’S FAULT. He wants this destruction, every day for the rest of his natural life. He will control everything if he wins Astro. If you are no longer useful to him, he will kill you. It’s what he did to Amari, and that’s what he’s been trying to do to Reyes and Jesse for years!” 

The gun slowly lowered from the back of her head, and Madilyn turned, standing up. Her hand wrapped around the gun, and pulled it back up. “Why do you have to be so calm?! Why were you so sure I wouldn’t shoot you in the back of the head?!” Tears are flowing down Astro’s eyes now, and Madilyn centered that gun against her forehead. 

“Because I know you. Because I’m surrounded by my allies. If I die, so will you. And you like living too much. Also, because you wouldn’t do me the disservice of shooting me in the back. You would give me the courtesy of showing me who killed me.” Madilyn replied, before she smashed her elbow into the side of Astro’s head to knock her out. More Blackwatch filtered in and Angela was with them, inspecting over Jesse’s wounds that were being healed by Astro efficiently. 

Another explosion rocked the building, and while nothing fell around them, they heard the familiar sounds of those dual wielded shotguns going off. Madilyn finished off cuffing Astro’s hands behind her back before she stood and pulled her helmet off the ground, emptying the dust and debris from it. “Lassiter, stay here and protect Jesse, Arrow and Astro. The rest of you, come on, Commander Reyes needs our help. Dr. Ziegler...I will protect you, just stay near me.” 

The blonde woman glanced at Arrow who nodded. “If she says she’ll protect you, that’s exactly what she’ll do. She might be Blackwatch, but she has always kept her word, and means what she says.” 

Madilyn held her hand out to Angela who took it and found herself on the woman’s back and scaling the rubble pile. SEP soldiers followed her but the other headed for the stairs.

* * *

 

Gabriel was panting, bleeding from various wounds from Jack’s rifle. But the Strike commander wasn’t faring any better as his face was cut and his body was as weak as Gabriel’s. They weren’t in the office anymore, in the garden area below them. Gabriel couldn’t wraith out anymore, he didn’t have the stamina for it anymore. 

“You know Gabriel...you should have died in Chabad. I heard nothing from Blackwatch for nearly a week. Your second in command would have been replaced. I would have turned all of them against you. Fuck I nearly succeeded once. I never could figure out why you didn’t die with all the SEP soldiers I sent you that should have succeeded in killing you.”

Jack’s words were echoed by an explosion, closer to them this time. 

“Because you sent me Madilyn. The brawler in that ridiculous looking lightweight armor? You sent her to me and we figured it out. She handled all the SEP coming in once I could trust her. Which took a while. And she refused to send in my MIA report for a week. Gave me time to get home. Jesse and her could run Overwatch properly and without us. She hates you, for what you did to her, what you did to Ana. Blackwatch has become synonymous with a death sentence.” 

Jack laughed, his hands gripping his rifle in his hand. “What do you have left?” 

“Two rounds. One in each. You?”

“Six shots.”

Gabriel was starting to see the old Jack as he fire his six shots into the ground. “Let’s go back to hand to hand. It’ll be more fun that way.” Gabriel fired both shots into the ground and tossed his guns away. 

“One last fight, _mano a mano_.” 

“Till the death then Gabriel. Just like old times.” Jack launched forward and they started to use up the last of their strength fighting. The end game here was for one or both of them to die. Another explosion rocked the building they were near and as it started to crumble, Jack and Gabriel sprung apart. Harsh screams left both their mouths when the debris fell on them, and they were pinned to the ground. 

“This is a shitty way to go.” Jack called out from where he was pinned under the rock he was only able to shift off his chest. Gabriel only grunted in reply, unable to the rock on his back from where he was stuck. 

They were like that for nearly a half hour before things were looking grim. Gabriel was slowly suffocating, feeling his ribs cracking from the pressure, and Jack was losing a lot of blood from various wounds. Gabriel was close to passing out when he heard the hard beat of boots against the concrete and the soft in compassion staccato of heels. A helmet filled his vision and once it was taken off he was face to face with the woman who had gotten past all his defenses and became family. “Madilyn...help…” he called weakly, using up precious air to speak. Her hands moved to the debris and using her suits added lifting power, lifted the debris as some of the other soldiers pulled Gabriel out from underneath it. A haggard Angela showed up in his vision and she had tears in her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re okay Gabriel…” she whispered before she started to heal him. Madilyn moved over to where the other soldiers were debating what to do with Jack. She looked down at him, face tired and looking like the dead. 

_ You can’t pick and choose who’s valuable and who isn’t Rambo. _ Loretta’s words floated to her as she stared down at the very pale Jack.  _ Except this time she could choose who’s valuable and who isn’t. _ She glanced over at where Ziegler was working with Gabriel. The operatives looked to her for instruction, and she looked down at Jack again. His pale face was staring up at her. 

But she didn’t see him. She saw the tear streaked face of Fareeha Amari, the broken and haunted look in Wilhelm’s eyes. The passed out cowboy with his arm crushed. The look on Gabriel’s face when he asked for help. The casket for Ana Amari. All she saw was the pain and the torment this man has brought to her and hers. 

But her gaze turned to Gabriel again and he was staring at Jack. Pain evident on his face, not just from his physical injuries but also the emotional ones. “Get him out of there. Let the courts decide what to do with him. Ziegler! Once the Commander is stable come tend to Post-...” she stopped seeing Gabriel’s brown eyes look up at her. “Tend to Morrison. He’s lost a lot of blood.”

Madilyn helped moved the rubble off of Morrison and once it was done and Angela was working to save his life and moved away. She still had work to do. As the technical next in line with Gabriel out of commission and Jesse also out of it, she was the one everyone would look to for answers. Barking orders as her helmet slid into place, she distracted herself with work, helping rescue people. The paparazzi wanted information, they had questions. She fielded them, as best as she was able, constantly citing the no comment line, or wait for the trial.

When the moon was high in the sky, she stood in what was left of Jack’s office, staring down at everything before her. The destruction of Overwatch. Tears formed in her eyes and for the first time since Amari’s funeral she cried. Helmet held in her hands before chucked at a glass cabinet to shatter it. Tears fell, hot, heavy and unending. She sobbed for all her loss. Her stress and worry of whether Reyes would make it out alive made her body shudder as it too turned into tears. She prayed to any deity that would listen to bring him and Jesse out of this okay. 

A soft mechanic noise sounded to her right and she looked over at Sombra who carefully knelt next to her. “You did it  _ Princesa Asesina _ . You finally beat him. And you did it as a Commander.” 

“I’m no commander. I just did my job.” she replied looking at all the destruction around them. “We lost 42 people from Blackwatch. 5 from Raptora. And Strike? I don’t know. I don’t have those numbers yet. 34 civilians dead because I couldn’t stop this in time. All this needless death and destruction.” 

The latina shook her head. “You saved so many people today. You did good work  _ Princesa Asesina. _ You did good.” 

Madilyn teared up again and bowed down in a completely reverent pose as she sobbed out her heart ache. “I should have let him bleed to death. But I couldn’t do that to Reyes. I couldn’t condemn his best friend to death without due process because I wouldn’t want him to do the same to mine. It was the right call, but I feel so dirty having made it. How does he do it? How the fuck does Reyes make these calls?”

Another presence joined them, and it wasn’t a very subtle one. The large German man moved into the room, and picked up the helmet that Madilyn had thrown before he sat down on the ground next to her, peering into the armored visor. "Perhaps you are not looking at it in the proper way." Madilyn sat up, looking up at the large man who held her helmet so carefully between his hands as he turned it around to inspect it for damage.   
  
“In a battle, you must consider the environment - but also trust your instincts. Gabriel...Gabriel always attempts to consider all of his options, but he does not let it paralyze him when his instincts are telling him what needs to be done. Because of this, he knows he has the support of every man and woman behind him. That relationship is vital to command, but to earn that support - that trust -you must to be sure of yourself, and your decisions. You must make the call, and know that you will accept the consequences, no matter what they may be."  
  
Handing back the helmet, the Crusader offered a warm smile. "You fought well today, and took on that burden of command. In a full scale battle like that, I’ve seen hardened and grizzled war heroes fall apart under the challenges you faced. But you made the calls, you helped those that needed it. You accepted the consequences, and we were honored to fight at your side."  
  
"You did a good job today, _Liebling_. Have more faith in yourself - and we shall have faith in you.” 

With both Reinhardt and Sombra looking at her expectantly, she pulled her gauntlets off and wiped her eyes free of her tears. “Thank you. Both of you. It’s appreciated. You both need sleep. I have a few things left I need to do.” 

* * *

It took weeks, and things with Jesse and Gabriel were touch and go. But they all managed to get through it, before they had to reinstate Overwatch as an organization. Maintaining their autonomy, but still well within the realm of the UN, Gabriel was promoted to Strike Commander, Jesse and Madilyn given the command of Blackwatch jointly, but Blackwatch was more in the light of legality. 

Jack’s trial lasted weeks, bringing so many new things to light. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences, and locked away forever. Sombra found her information and with the assistance of Overwatch and Blackwatch, took down the conspiracy she had been chasing. Fareeha settled into her role as the leader of the Raptora unit in conjunction with Overwatch well, and Reinhardt retired to Egypt, where he visited and tended Ana’s grave. Angela made more advances in medicine, with her nanite technology. 

  
The world settled into a gentle peace, and prospered under Gabriel’s leadership over Overwatch. As much as Gabriel could have dragged Jack’s name through the mud, he kept the good work Jack did pure, and didn’t let it get dragged down. He kept his friend’s good deeds good, and tried to keep Jack remembered for the good he had done, and not the sociopath he had become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation:  
> Jefe - boss  
> Hijo du puta - Motherfucker  
> Princesa Asesina - Murder Princess  
> Mano a mano - hand to hand  
> Liebling - sweetheart
> 
> It's finally over. Thank you guys so much for sticking around. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm sorry it didn't have a ship, and a lot of OCs, but I enjoyed it. And it's my first finished multichapter fic. 
> 
> Stay tuned darlings. The Harem AU and the Demon dicking AU are getting updates soon!
> 
> Huge thank to BZArcher over on the Overwatch Writer's Guild for the help with writing Reinhardt, Darth Umbreon on my RP server for the help with motivation. I appreciate everyone who read, beta'd, and helped me with plot holes. Thank you so much everyone.


End file.
